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A M E R i c A N> 






BIOGRAPHY 



A NEW AMERICAN 

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY : 



on, 



REMEMBRANCER 



DEPARTED HEROES, SAGES, AND STATESMEN. 



Q 



COXFINKD EXCLU5IVELT 

?0 THOSE WHO HAVE SIGNALIZED THEMSELVES IN EITHER 
CAPACITY, 

JN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR WHICH OBTAINED THE 
INDEPENDENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY. 



THIRD EDITION ; 

WITH IMPORTANT ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS- 



COMPILED BY THOMAS J. ROGERS: 



Whether we consider the intrinsic gallantry of our revolutionary heroes and 
statesmen, the sufferings they endured, or the inestimable value of the bles- 
sings they obtained, no nation has prouder examples to appeal to than the 
American people : no nation was ever called on by stronger obligations of gra- 
titude, to honor their characters and to consecrate their memories. 



.;, 



EASTON, PENN : 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THOMAS J. ROGERS. 

1824, 




/ 

ft ' 

Eastern District oj Pennsylvania, to loit. 

Be it remembered, that on the fourth day of August in tuc 
forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of 
America, A. D. 1824, Thomas J. Rogers, of the said District,, 
hath deposited in this office the Title of a Book, the right 
whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to 
wit : 

"A new American Biographical Dictionary; or Remembrancer of the de- 
parted Heroes, Sages, and Statesmen, of America. Confined exclusively to 
those who have signalized themselves in either capacity in the Revolutionary 

?War, which obtained the Independence of their country. Third Edition, witk 
important alterations and additions. Compiled by Thomas J. Rogers." 

"Whether we consider the intrinsic gallantly of our revolutionary heroes and 
"statesmen, the sufferings they endured, or the inestimable value of the 
"blessing's they obtained, no nation has prouder examples to appeal to than 
" the American people : no nation was ever called on by stronger obliga- 
"tions of gratitude, to honor their characters and to consecrate their me- 
"mories." 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An 
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts 
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times, 
therein mentioned." And also to the act entitled, "An act supplementary 
to an act, entitled " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the 
copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such 
copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits- 
thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching- historical and other 
prints." 

D. CALDWELL, 

Clerk of the Eastern district of Pennsylvania^ 



* 



*P 



TWO editions of this work have been published, and the 
second has received the decided and unequivocal approbation 
of some of the most distinguished individuals in our country. 
The present edition is considerably enlarged, and essentially 
improved, by numerous original sketches of individuals, whose 
characters, conduct, and patriotism, in all probability, never 
would have been recorded, but for this publication. Every 
day more solicitude and interest is manifested for the history 
and events of the revolutionary war, and more veneration is 
paid to the memory of those illustrious statesmen and soldiers, 
who laid the foundation of the American republic. Those 
venerable men are rapidly departing from among us. Every 
day adds to the number of those who have gone, and few now 
remain. It becomes us the more then to cherish their princi- 
ples, which will, ere long, be all that survives them, except 
indeed the history of their virtues, patriotism, and gallant 
exploits. These, we trust, will never be forgotten by their 
descendants. There is no task more delightful to a grateful 
posterity, nor more worthy of a patriot, than to search out the 
rolls of honourable exploit, and to promulgate it to our coun- 
try. Every endeavour to rescue from forgetfulness the men 
who distinguished themselves in our glorious revolution, 
ought to be encouraged by all patriotic Americans. We ought 
to implant their memory in the hearts of our children, to be 
handed down to their children, in proud remembrance of their 
virtues, talents, and patriotism : for " never, in any country 
or in any age, did there exist a race of men whose souls 
were better fitted to endure the trial. Patient in suffering, 
firm in adversity, calm and collected amidst the dangers 
which pressed around them ; cool in council, and brave in 
battle, they were worthy of the cause and the cause was wor- 
thy of them." Whether we consider their intrinsic gallantry, 
"ie sufferings they endured, or the inestimable blessings they 
obtained for themselves and their posterity, no nation lias 
prouder examples to appeal to than the American people : no 
nation was ever called on by stronger obligations of grati- 
tude, to honour their characters and to consecrate their me- 
mories. 

In contemplating the characters of those illustrious men, 
who have been emphatically called the founders of our repub- 
lic, we have before us models of every public and private vir- 



IV PREFACE. 

tue. Here he who is ambitious of acting a distinguished part 
in the cabinet, may learn to imitate a Franklin, a Henry, an 
Adams, a Hancock, and others. Here the soldier, whose am- 
bition is patriotism and glory, may be stimulated to acquire 
the laurels gained by a Washington, a Greene, a Montgome- 
ry, a Wayne, a Warren, and their compatriots. And here 
the naval aspirant, may dwell with delight and satisfaction, 
on the heroic actions of a Biddle, Barney, and others. In a 
word, here may the sons of America trace the lineaments of 
their fathers' glory, and by their example learn to imitate 
their deeds. " The authors of our independence will indeed 
occupy a high rank in the veneration of posterity ; and for 
the gratification of the present and all future times, it is now 
proper to collect the scattered notices of their personal and 
political history ; to mould them into form, and to exhibit 
the result to the contemplation of an admiring world." 

The introduction contains a succinct account of the events 
which led to the rupture between Great Britain and her then 
colonies. The declaration of 1775, and the other papers 
which emanated from congress, during the revolutionary con- 
test, contain the manful remonstrances of freemen against 
oppression ; an elegant and eloquent exposition of the rights 
of the people, and of the causes which impelled our fathers to 
the separation. The biographies of the sages and heroes, 
contain much instructive history of the revolution ; calculated 
to incite the young, instruct the old, and improve the moral 
character of the nation, by holding up to public view and imi- 
tation, portraits of virtue and patriotism, of which the histo- 
ry of mankind affords no brighter examples. To which is 
added the Farewell Address of Washington, in which we 
may read with delight and instruction, the advice of the father 
of our country, and the importance and necessity of preserv- 
ing the union of our confederated republic. 

The compiler claims no other merit for this work, than a 
persevering industry to collect and save from oblivion, the 
names and deeds of those brave men, whose wisdom in coun- 
cil, and valour in battle, gave liberty and independence to a 
great, powerful and flourishing nation. 

Easton, Pennsylvania. September 1, 1834. 



m 



THE compiler deems it proper to state the gradual ap- 
proaches which the colonies made towards independence, pre- 
vious to the declaration hy the immortal Congress of 1776, 
and in a summary mode to trace the current of events, from 
the origin of the plan of taxing America, up to the Fourth of 
July of that year. 

In 1764, the British parliament passed resolutions, pre- 
paratory to laying a tax on the colonies, hy a stamp act. In 
March, 1765, the famous stamp act was passed, to take effect 
in the colonies on the first of November following. This was 
the first act of the mother country, which created alarm, and 
which eventually caused a separation of these states from 
Great Britain. It passed the house of Commons by a ma- 
jority of two hundred votes. The bill met with no opposition 
in the house of Lords. The very night the act passed, Dr. 
Franklin who was then in London, wrote to Charles Thomp- 
son, afterwards secretary of congress : " The sun of liberty is 
set ; the Americans must light the lamps of industry and econo- 
my." To which Mr. Thompson answered : "Be assured 
we will light torches of quite another sort." He here predic- 
ted the opposition and convulsions, that were about to follow 
this odious act. The torch of the revolution was indeed very 
soon lighted. When the information of the passage of the act 
reached the colonies, the assembly of Virginia was the only 
one in session ; and Virginia led the way in opposition to it. 
The resolutions offered by Patrick Henry, assumed a lofty and 
open ground against taxation. In New England, and par- 
ticularly in Massachusetts, the same opposition was mani- 
fested, and, indeed, the whole continent was in a flame. It 
spread from breast to breast, till the conflagration became 
general. The legislature of Massachusetts met on the last day 
of May, 1765. A committee reported the expediency of hav- 
ing a general meeting of ''committees," from the several as- 
semblies of the colonics, to beheld at New York, in October 
following. They also resolved to send circulars to the seve- 
ral assemblies, requesting their concurrence. Twenty-eight 
deputies, from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland 
and South Carolina, met at New York, on Monday the 7th 
of October, 1765. They passed resolutions expressing their 
motives and principles, and declaring their exemption from 
all taxes, not imposed by their own representatives. They 
also agreed upon a petition to the king, a memorial to the 
house of lords, and a petition to the house of commons. 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

From the decided opposition to this act, and the indignation 
manifested against it, in all parts of the colonies, it was deem- 
ed proper to repeal it. It was accordingly repealed on the 
18th of March, 1766. Much opposition, however, was made 
to its repeal. Several speakers in both houses of parliament 
denied the right of taxing the colonies. Mr. Pitt, afterwards 
lord Chatham, said, "it is my opinion that this kingdom has 
no right to lay a tax upon the colonies. We are told that 
America is obstinate, almost in open rebellion. I rejoice that 
America has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to 
all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, 
would have been fit instruments to make slaves of all the 
rest. The Americans have been wronged ;they have been dri- 
ven to madness by injustice. Will you punish them for the 
madness you have occasioned ? No ; let this country be the 
first to resume its prudence and temper." He concluded by 
saying that it was his opinion that the stamp act be repealed, 
absolutely, totally, and immediately. 

In 1767, an act passed the British parliament, laying a hea- 
vy duty on tea, glass, paper, and other articles. This act 
re-kindled the resentment and excited a general opposition 
among the people of the colonies ; and they contended that 
there was no real difference between the principle of the new 
act and the stamp act. This act produced resolves, petitions, 
&c. similar to those with which the colonies opposed the stamp 
act, and in various parts, particularly in Massachusetts, on 
the suggestion of Samuel Mams, it was agreed not to import 
and consume British manufactures. 

In 1769, both houses of parliament passed a joint address 
to his majesty, approbatory of his measures, and that they 
would support him in such further measures as might be found 
necessary, to maintain the civil magistrates in a due execu- 
tion of the laws in Massachusetts-Bay. The assembly of 
Virginia, in this year, passed resolutions complaining of the 
recent acts of parliament, and remonstrated against the 
right of transporting the frceborn subjects of America to Eng* 
land, to be tried for alledged offences committed in the colo- 
nies. In 1770, on the 2d of March, the Boston massacre took 
place. 

In 1773, the people of Boston who were determined not to 
pay duties on tea, collected in a town meeting and resolved 
that the tea should not be landed. At the dissolution of the 
meeting, about twenty persons, in the disguise of Mohawk In- 
dians, went on hoard some ships, broke open three hundred 
and forty-two chests of tea, and discharged their contents in- 
to the water. In Philadelphia, where the spirit of opposition^ 
although not less deep, was less loud, they unloaded some of 
the cargoes and stored the tea in damp cellars, where it soon 



INTRODUCTION*. Vll 

moulded. Whole cargoes were returned from New York and 
Philadelphia. When the news of the destruction of the tea 
reached England, they determined to punish the people of 
Boston. In 1774, a bill was passed in parliament, called the 
Boston Port Bill, to discontinue the landing or shipping of 
any goods, wares, or merchandize, at the harbour of that 
city. This was followed by an act authorising the quarter- 
ing of soldiers in the houses of the citizens. General Gage, 
in character of commander in chief of the royal forces, and 
governor of Massachussetts, arrived at Boston, with a mili- 
tary force, to enforce the acts of the parliament 

The words whigs and tories were now introduced, to dis- 
tinguish the names of the parties. By the former, were meant 
those who were for supporting the colonies in their opposition 
to the tyrannical acts of the Britisli parliament. By the 
latter, those who were in favour of Great Britain and oppo- 
sed to resistance. 

During these commotions, the first Congress of delegates, 
chosen and appointed by the several colonies and provinces, 
met at Carpenter's Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 
5th of September. 1774. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was 
unanimously elected President, and Charles Thompson, Se- 
cretary. On the 27th September, congress unanimously re- 
solved, that from and after the 1st of December, 1774, there 
should be no importation from Great Britain or Ireland, of 
British goods. On the 8th of October, it was resolved that, 
the congress approve the opposition of the inhabitants of 
Massachusetts Bay, to the execution of the obnoxious acts of 
Parliament. On the 22d of September, they passed a resolu- 
tion recommending delegates to meet again at Philadelphia, 
on the 10th May, 1775. The congress was then dissolved. 

On the 19th of April, 1775, the first battle was fought be- 
tween the Americans and the king's troops, at Lexington, 
Massachusetts. The revolutionary war began with this bat- 
tle ; for here the first blood was spilt. The British had sixty 
five killed, one hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty eight 
made prisoners. Of the Americans, fifty one were killed, 
thirty eight wounded, and four were missing. At Lexington 
a monument has been erected to the memory of those who 
were killed in that town, with a suitable inscription on it, 
including the names of those who fell. The die was cast! 
the blood of these martyrs was the cement of the union of 
these states: the Americans rose as one man to revenge their 
brethren's blood, and at the point of the sword to assert and 
defend their native rights. Those who fell in this battle were 
revered by their countrymen, as martyrs who had died in the 
cause of liberty. 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

On the 10th May, 1775, the delegates from the several co- 
lonies, with the exception of Rhode Island, assembled at the 
state house in Philadelphia, when Peyton Randolph, was a se- 
cond time unanimously elected president, and Charles Thomp- 
son, secretary. A few days after they met, Mr. Randolph 
being under the necessity of returning home, John Hancock, 
of Massachusetts, was unanimously elected president. 

On the 17th of June, the memorable battle of Bunker's Hill 
took place, where the gallant resistance of a handful of un- 
disciplined troops, taught a lesson to the British which they 
remembered during the contest. 

In the same month Congress resolved to raise several com- 
panies of riflemen, &c. and that a general should be appoint- 
ed to command all the continental forces raised, or to be rais- 
ed, for the defence of American liberty ; and George Wash- 
ington, was unanimously elected. Congress, at the same 
time, resolved, that they would maintain, assist, and adhere 
to George Washington, with their lives and fortunes. 

On the first of August, Congress adjourned to meet on the 
5th of September. On the 5th of September, 1775, Congress 
again convened, and proceeded to the important business en- 
trusted to them. They provided for raising armies, building 
vessels of war, and authorised the capture of all ships and 
vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great Britain. They 
also resolved that ten millions of dollars should be raised for 
the purpose of carrying on the war. 

On the 10th of June, 1776, a motion was made by Richard 
Henry Lee, of Virginia, seconded by John Adams, of Massa- 
chusetts, that a committee should be appointed to prepare a 
declaration to the following effect : " That these United Colo- 
nies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown ; and that all political connexion between them and the 
state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 
The committee consisted of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. 
Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. R. R. Livingston. Mr. 
Jefferson, though the youngest on the committee, was chair- 
man, he having received one more vote than Mr. Adams. — 
The committee met and appointed Mr. Jefferson and Mr. 
Adams, a sub-committee. Mr. Jefferson urged Mr. Adams 
to write the declaration, and Mr. Adams urged Mr. Jefferson 
to do it. Mr. Jefferson consented, and the next day submit- 
ted the original draft, as it was presented to Congress. On 
the first day of July, the committee reported the declaration 
to Congress, and it was discussed and amended on the second 
and third, and finally, on the fourth of July, the Declaration 
of Independence was agreed to and signed. 



A NEW AMERICAN 



BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 



ADAMS, Samuel, one of the most distinguished patriots 
of the American Revolution, was born in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, on the 22d of September, 1722. His ancestors were 
among the first settlers in New England. His parents were 
highly respectable. His father was, for many years, a repre- 
sentative for the town of Boston, in the Massachusetts house 
of Assembly, in which he was annually elected till his death. 

Samuel Adams received the rudiments of a liberal education 
at the grammar school under the care of Mr. Lovell, where 
he was remarkably attentive to his studies. His conduct was 
similar while he was at college, and during the whole term he 
had to pay but one fine, and this was for not attending morn- 
ing prayers, in consequence of having overslept himself. By 
a close and steady application, he made considerable profi- 
ciency in classical learning, logic, and natural philosophy; 
hut as he was designed for the ministry, a profession to which 
he seems to have been much inclined, his studies were partic- 
ularly directed to systematic divinity. Why Mr. Adams did 
not assume the clerical character, so congenial to his views 
and habits, does not appear. In 1740, and 1743, the respec- 
tive degrees of bachelor and master of arts were conferred 
upon him. On the latter occasion, he proposed the following 
question for discussion, " whether it be lawful to resist the su- 
preme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot otherwise be 
preserved ?" He maintained the affirmative of this proposi- 
tion, and thus evinced, at this period of his life, his attach- 
ment to the liberties of the people. While he was a student, 
his father allowed him a regular stipend. Of this, he saved a 
sufficient sum, to publish, at his own expense, a pamphlet, call- 
ed "Englishmen's Rights." 



10 ADAMS. 

He was put an apprentice to the late Thomas Gushing, an 
eminent merchant. For this profession he was ill adapted, and 
it received but a small share of his attention. The study of 
politics was his chief delight. At this time he formed a club, 
each member of which agreed to furnish a political essay for 
a newspaper called the Independent Advertiser. These es- 
says brought the writers into notice, who were called, in deri- 
sion, ''the Whipping Post Club." 

His limited knowledge of commerce rendered him incompe- 
tent to support himself by that pursuit. His father, however, 
gave him a considerable capital, with which he commenced 
business. He had not been long in trade when he credited 
one of his countrymen with a sum of money. This person, 
soon after, met with heavy calamities, which he represented to 
Mr. Adams, who never demanded the amount, although it was 
nearly half the value of his original stock. This, and other 
losses, soon consumed all lie had. 

At the age of twenty-five, his father died, and, as he was 
the oldest son, the care of the family and management of the 
estate, devolved upon him. 

Early distinguished by talents, as a writer, his first at- 
tempts were proofs of his filial piety. By his efforts he pre- 
served the estate of his father, which had been attached on 
account of an engagement in the land bank bubble. He be- 
came a political writer during the administration of Shirley, 
to which he was opposed, as he thought the union of so much 
civil and military power, in one man, was dangerous. His in- 
genuity, wit, and profound argument, are spoken of with the 
highest respect by those who were contemporary with him. 
At this early period he laid the foundation of public confidence 
and esteem. 

It may be proper to mention that his first office in the town 
was that of tax-gatherer, which the opposite party in politics 
often alluded to, and in their controversies would style him 
Samuel the Publican. While the British regiments were in 
town, the tories enjoyed a kind of triumph, and invented every 
mode of burlesquing the popular leaders : but, where the peo- 
ple tax themselves, the office of collector is respectable ; it 
was, at that time, given to gentlemen who had seen better 
days, and needed some pecuniary assistance, having merited 
the esteem and confidence of their fellow townsmen. Mr. 
Adams was ill qualified to fill an office which required such 
constant attention to pecuniary matters ; and, his soul being 
bent on politics, he passed more time in talking against Great 
Britain than in collecting the sums due to the town. He grew 
embarrassed in his circumstances, and was assisted, not only 



ADAMS. 11 

by private friends, but by many others who knew him only as 
a spirited partisan in the cause of liberty. 

From this time, the whigs were determined to support him 
to the utmost of their power. He had been always on their 
side, was firm and sagacious, one of the best writers in the 
newspapers, ready upon every question, but especially conver- 
sant with all matters which related to the dispute between 
Great Britain and the colonies. 

We have said that there was a private political club in Bos- 
ton, where decisive measures originated, which gave a secret 
spring and impulse to the motions of the public body, and that 
Mr. Adams was one of the patriotic conclave. This confed- 
eracy came to a determination to resist every infringement of 
their rights. The stamp act was a flagrant violation of them, 
and to suffer it quietly to be carried into effect, would estab- 
lish a precedent, and encourage further proceedings of a simi- 
lar nature. Mr. Adams was one of those who opposed it in 
every step. He was not averse to the manner in which the 
people evinced their determinate opposition, by destroying the 
stamped papers and office in Boston ; but he highly disap- 
proved of the riots and disorders which followed, and person- 
ally aided the civil power to put a stop to them. 

The taxes upon tea, oil, and colours, were still more odious 
to the Americans than the stamp act; especially to the inhab- 
itants of Boston, where the board of commissioners was es- 
tablished. The people looked to Mr. Adams as one of the 
champions of liberty, who must stand forth against every 
claim of Great Britain, and deny the right of the parent state 
to lay a tax ; nor were they disappointed. He was so strenu- 
ous in his exertions to make the people sensible of their char- 
ter privileges, that he obtained the appellation of the patriot 
Samuel Jldams. 

In 1765, he was elected a member of the general assembly 
of Massachusetts. He was soon chosen clerk, and he gradu- 
ally acquired influence in the legislature. This was an event- 
ful time. But Mr. Adams possessed a courage which no dan- 
gers could shake. He was undismayed by the prospect, which 
struck terror into the hearts of many. He was a member of 
the legislature near ten years, and he was the soul which ani- 
mated it to the most important resolutions. No man did so 
much. He pressed his measures with ardour ; yet he was pru- 
dent ; he knew how to bend the passions of others to his pur- 
pose. 

The congress which assembled at New York, at this period, 
was attributed to a suggestion made by Mr. Adams. It has 
been said, with confidence, that he was the first man who pro- 
posed it in Massachusetts. 



12 ADAMS. 

In consequence of the act imposing duties, in 1767, Mr. 
Adams suggested a non-importation agreement with the mer- 
chants. Tljis was agreed to, and signed by nearly all of them 
in the province. They bound themselves, if the duties were 
not repealed, not to import, or to order any, but certain enu- 
merated articles, after the first of January, 1769. 

On the evening of the fifth of March, 1770, an affray took 
place between the military quartered in Boston , and some citi- 
zens, which resulted in a loss of lives on both sides. On the 
following morning, a public meeting was called, and Samuel 
Adams addressed the assembly, with that impressive eloquence 
which was so peculiar to himself. The people, on this occa- 
sion, chose a committee to wait upon the lieutenant governor, 
to require that the troops be immediately withdrawn from the 
town. The mission, however, proved unsuccessful, and an- 
other resolution was immediately adopted, that a new com- 
mittee be chosen to wait a second time upon governor Hutch- 
inson for the purpose of conveying the sense of the meeting 
in a more peremptory manner. Mr. Adams acted as chair- 
man. They waited on the lieutenant governor, and commu- 
nicated this last vote of the town; and, in a speech of some 
length, Mr. Adams stated the danger of keeping the troops- 
longer in the capital, fully proving the illegality of the act it- 
self; and enumerating the fatal consequences that would en- 
sue, if he refused an immediate compliance with the vote. 
Lieutenant governor Hutchinson, with his usual prevarication, 
replied, and roundly asserted, that there was no illegality in 
the measure ; and repeated, that the troops were not suhject 
to his authority, but that he would direct the removal of the 
twenty-ninth regiment. Mr. Adams again rose. The mag- 
nitude of the subject, and the manner in which it was treated 
by lieutenant governor Hutchinson, had now roused the im- 
petuous feelings of his patriotic soul. With indignation 
strongly expressed in his countenance, and in a firm, resolute, 
and commanding manner, he replied, "that it was well 
known, that, acting as governor of the province, he was, by 
its charter, the commander in chief of his majesty's military 
and naval forces, and as such, the troops were subject to his 
orders; and if he had the power to remove one regiment, he 
had the power to remove both, and nothing short of this would 
satisfy the people, and it was at his peril, if the vote of the 
town was not immediately complied with, and if it be longer- 
delayed, he, alone, must he answerable for the fatal conse- 
quences that would ensue." This produced a momentary si- 
lence. It was now dark, and the people w,ere waiting in anx- 
ious suspense for the report of the committee. A conference 
in whispers followed between lieutenant governor Hutchinson 



ADAMS. 13 

and colonel Dalrymple. The former, finding himself so close- 
ly pressed, and the fallacy and absurdity of his arguments 
thus glaringly exposed, yielded up his positions, and gave his 
consent to the removal of both regiments; and colonel Dal- 
rymple pledged his word of honour, that he would begin his 
preparations in the morniug, and that there should be no un- 
necessary delay, until the whole of both regiments were re- 
moved to the castle. 

At a very early period of the controversy between the mo- 
ther country and the colonists, Mr. Adams was impressed 
with the importance of establishing committees of correspon- 
dence. In 1766, he made some suggestions on this subject in 
a letter to a friend in South Carolina ; but it was found to be 
either impracticable or inexpedient before the year 1772, when 
it was first adopted by Massachusetts, on a motion of Mr. 
Adams at a public town meeting in Boston. This plan was 
followed by all the provinces. Mr. Adams's private letters 
may have advanced this important work. In a letter to Rich- 
ard Henry Lee, Esq. of Virginia, which, unfortunately, is 
without a date, is the following remark : " I would propose it 
For your consideration, whether the establishment of commit- 
tees of correspondence among the several towns in every col- 
ony, would not tend to promote the general union upon which 
the security of the whole depends." It will be remembered 
that the resolutions for the establishment of this institution in 
Virginia, were passed March 12, 1773, which was more than 
four months subsequently to the time it had been formed in 
Boston. 

Every method had been tried to induce Mr. Adams to aban- 
don the cause of his country, which he had supported with 
so much zeal, courage, and ability. Threats and caresses had 
proved equally unavailing. Prior to this time there is no 
certain proof that any direct attempt was made upon his vir- 
tue and integrity, although a report had been publicly and 
freely circulated, that it had been unsuccessfully tried by gov- 
ernor Bernard. Hutchinson knew him too well to make the 
attempt. But governor Gage was empowered to make the 
experiment. He sent to him a confidential and verbal mes- 
sage by colonel Fenton, who waited upon Mr. Adams, and 
after the customary salutations, he stated the object of his vi- 
sit. He said that an adjustment of the disputes which existed 
between England and the colonies, and a reconciliation, was 
Very desirable, as well as important to both. That he was 
authorized from governor Gage to assure him, that he had 
l)een empowered to confer upon him such benefits as would be 
satisfactory, upon the condition, that he would engage to cease 
in his opposition to the measures of government. He als* 



14 ADAMS. 

observed, that it was the advice of governor Gage, to him, 
not to incur the further displeasure of his majesty ; that his 
conduct had been such as made him liable to the penalties of 
an act of Henry VIII. by which persons could be sent to En- 
gland for trial of treason, or misprison of treason, at the dis- 
cretion of a governor of a province, but by changing his po- 
litical course, he would not only receive great personal advan- 
tages, but would thereby make his peace with the king. Mr. 
Adams listened with apparent interest to this recital. He 
asked colonel Fenton if he would truly deliver his reply as it 
should be given. After some hesitation he assented. Mr. 
Adams required his word of honour, which he pledged. 

Then rising from his chair, and assuming a determined 
manner, he replied, " I trust I have long since made my peace 
with the king of kings. No personal consideration shall 
induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my country. 
Tell governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Adams 
to him, no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated 
people." 

With a full sense of his own perilous situation, marked out 
an object of ministerial vengeance, labouring under severe 
pecuniary embarrassment, but fearless of consequences, he 
steadily pursued the great object of his soul, the liberty of the 
people. 

The time required bold and inflexible measures. Common 
distress required common counsel. The aspect was appalling 
to some of the most decided patriots of the day. The severi- 
ty of punishment which was inflicted on the people of Boston, 
by the power of England, produced a melancholy sadness on 
the friends of American freedom. The Massachusetts house 
of Assembly was then in session at Salem. A committee of 
that body was chosen to consider and report the state of the 
province. Mr. Adams, it is said, observed, that some of the 
committee were for mild measures, which he judged no way 
suited to the present emergency. He conferred with Mr. 
Warren, of Plymouth, upon the necessity of spirited mea- 
sures, and then said, " do you keep the committee in play, 
and I will go and make a caucus by the time the evening ar- 
rives, and do you meet me." Mr. Adams secured a meeting 
of about five principal members of the house at the time spe- 
cified, and repeated his endeavours for the second and third 
nights, when the number amounted to more than thirty. The 
friends of the administration knew nothing of the matter. 
The popular leaders took the sense of the members in a pri- 
vate way, and found that they would be able to carry their 
scheme by a sufficient majority. They had their whole plan 
eompleted; prepared their resolutions, and then determined te 



ADAMS. 15 

■bring the business forward; but, before they commenced, the 
door-keeper was ordered to let no person in, or suffer any one 
to depart, The subjects for discussion were then introduced 
by Mr. Adams, with his usual eloquence on such great occa- 
sions. He was chairman of the committee, and reported the 
resolutions for the appointment of delegates to a general con- 
gress to be convened at Philadelphia, to consult on the general 
safety of America. This report was received by surprise and 
astonishment by the administration party. Such was the ap- 
prehension of some, that they were apparently desirous to de- 
sert the question. The door-keeper seemed uneasy at his 
charge, and wavering with regard to the performance of the 
duty assigned to him. At this critical juncture, Mr. Adams 
relieved him, by taking the key and keeping it himself. The 
resolutions were passed, five delegates, consisting of Samuel 
Adams, Thomas Gushing, Robert Treat Paine, John Adams, 
and James Bowdoin, were appointed, the expense was estima- 
ted, and funds were voted for the payment. Before the busi- 
ness was finally closed, a member made a plea of indisposi- 
tion, and was allowed to leave the house. This person went 
directly to the governor, and informed him of their high-hand- 
ed proceedings. The governor immediately sent his secretary 
to dissolve the assembly, who found the door locked. He de- 
manded entrance, but was answered, that his desire could not 
be complied with, until some important business, then before 
the house, was concluded. Finding every method to gain ad- 
mission ineffectual, he read the order on the stairs for an im- 
mediate dissolution of the assembly. The order, however, 
was disregarded by the house. They continued their deliber- 
ations, passed all their intended measures, and then obeyed the 
mandate for dissolution. 

The battle of Lexington, which took place on the 1 9th of 
April, 1775, now announced the commencement of the revo- 
lutionary war. Adams and Hancock were in Lexington the 
very night the British troops left Boston. To gain posses- 
sion of the papers of Messrs. Adams and Hancock, who lodg- 
ed together in the village, was one of the motives, it is said, 
of the expedition which led to that memorable conflict. The 
design, though covered with great secrecy, was anticipated, 
and the victims escaped upon the entrance of their habitation 
by the British troops. General Joseph Warren, who was the 
first victim of rank who fell in the revolutionary contest with 
Great Britain, despatched an express, at ten o'clock at night, 
to Adams and Hancock, to warn them of their danger. A 
friend of Mr. Adams spread a report that he spake with plea- 
sure on the occurrences of the 19th of April. "It is a fine 
day," said he, walking H the field after the day dawned — 



16 ADAMS. 

"Very pleasant," answered one of his companions, supposing 
him to be contemplating the beauties of the sky. "I mean," 
he replied, "this day is a glorious day for America." 

So fearless was he of consequences, so intrepid was he in the 
midst of danger, so eager to look forward to the lustre of 
events that would succeed the gloom which then involved the 
minds of the people. Mr. Adams had been a member of the con- 
tinental congress the preceding year. In this situation he ren- 
dered the most important services to his country. His eloquence 
was well adapted to the times in which he lived. The energy of 
his language corresponded with the firmness and vigour of his 
mind. His heart glowed with the feelings of a patriot, and 
his eloquence was simple, majestic, and persuasive. He was 
one of the most efficient members of congress. He possessed 
keen penetration, unshaken fortitude, and permanent decision. 

After many unavailing efforts, both by threats and promises, 
to allure this inflexible patriot from his devotion to the sacred 
cause of independence, governor Gage, at length, on the 12th 
of June, issued that memorable proclamation, of which the 
following is an extract. "In this exigency of complicated ca- 
lamities, I avail myself of the last effort within the hounds of 
my duty, to spare the further effusion of blood, to offer, and I 
do hereby in his majesty's name, offer and promise, his most 
gracious pardon to all persons, who shall forthwith lay down 
their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects, ex- 
cepting only from the benefit of such pardon, Samuel Mams, 
and John Hancock, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature 
to admit of any other consideration than that of condign pun- 
ishment." This was a diploma, conferring greater honours 
on the individuals, than any other which was within the power 
of his Britannic majesty to bestow. * 

In a letter dated April, 1776, at Philadelphia, while lie was 
in congress, to major Hawley, of Massachusetts, he said, " I 
am perfectly satisfied of the necessity of a public and explicit 
declaration of independence. I cannot conceive what good 
reason can be assigned against it. Will it widen the breach ? 
This would be a strange question after we have raised armies 
and fought battles with the British troops ; set up an American 
navy, permitted the inhabitants of these colonies to fit out arm- 
ed vessels to capture the ships, &c. belonging to any of the in- 
habitants of Great Britain; declaring them the enemies of 
the United Colonies, and torn into shivers their acts of trade, 
by allowing commerce, subject to regulations to be made by 
ourselves, with the people of all countries, except such as are 
subject to the British king. It cannot, surely, after all this, 
be imagined, that we consider ourselves, or mean to be con- 



ADAMS, 17- 

sidered by others, in any other state, than that of indepen- 
dence." 

In another letter to James Warren, Esq. dated Baltimore, 
December 31, 1776, he said, "I assure you, business has 
been done since we came to this place, more to my satisfac- 
tion than any or every thing done before, excepting the De- 
claration of Independence, which should have been made im- 
mediately after the 19th of April, 1775." 

The character of Mr. Adams had become celebrated in 
foreign countries. In 1773, he had been chosen a member 
of the society of the bill of rights in London ; and in 1774, 
John Adams and doctor Joseph Warren were elected on his 
nomination. 

Mr. Adams was a member of the continental congress 
when the declaration of independence was made. He was a 
warm and ardent friend of that measure, and supported it 
with great zeal. 

In the year 1777, our patriots encountered many difficulties. 
It was at this critical juncture, after Congress had resolved 
to adjourn from Philadelphia to Lancaster, that some of the 
leading members accidentally met in company with each 
other. A conversation in mutual confidence ensued. Mr. 
Adams, who was one of the number, was cheerful and undis- 
mayed at the aspect of affairs, while the countenances of his 
friends were strongly marked with the desponding feelings of 
their hearts. The conversation naturally turned upon the 
subject which most engaged their feelings. Each took occa- 
sion to express his opinions on the situation of the public 
cause. Mr. Adams listened in silence till they had finished. 
He then said, " Gentlemen, your spirits appear to be heavily 
oppressed with our public calamities. I hope you do not de- 
spair of our final success?" It was answered, "That the 
chance was desperate." Mr. Adams replied, "if this be our 
language, it is so, indeed. If we wear long faces, they will 
become fashionable. Let us banish such feelings, and show 
a spirit that will keep alive the confidence of the people. 
Better tidings will soon arrive. Our cause is just and right- 
eous, and we shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we 
show ourselves worthy of its aid and protection." 

At this time there were but twenty-eight of the members of 
Congress present at Philadelphia. Mr. Adams said, "that 
this was the smallest, but the truest Congress, they ever had." 

But a few days had elapsed, when the news arrived of the 
glorious success at Saratoga, which gave a new complexion 
to our affairs, and confidence to our hopes. 

Soon after this, lord Howe, the earl of Carlisle, and Mr. 
Eden, arrived as commissioners to treat for peace, under lord 

3 



18 ADAMS. 

North's conciliatory proposition. Mr. Adams was one of 
the committee chosen by congress to draught an answer to 
their letter. In this, it is related, "That congress will rea- 
dily attend to such terms of peace, as may consist with the 
honour of an independent nation." 

In 1779, Samuel Adams was placed, by the state conven- 
tion, on a committee to prepare and report a form of govern- 
ment for Massachusetts. By this committee he and John 
Adams were appointed a sub-committee to furnish a draught of 
the constitution. The draught produced by them was report- 
ed to the convention, and, after some amendments, accepted. 
The address of the convention to the people was jointly writ- 
ten by them. 

In 1787, he was chosen a member of the Massachusetts 
convention for the ratification of the constitution of the United 
States. He had some objections to it in its reported form ; 
the principal of which was to that article which rendered the 
several states amenable to the courts of the nation. He 
thought that this would reduce them to mere corporations, 
There was a very powerful opposition to it, and some of its 
most zealous friends and supporters were fearful that it would 
not be accepted. 

Mr. Adams had not then given his sentiments upon it in the 
convention, but regularly attended the debates. Some of the 
leading advocates waited upon Mr. Adams to ascertain his 
opinions and wishes, in a private manner. Mr. Adams sta- 
ted his objections, and stated that he should not give it his 
support, unless certain amendments were recommended to be 
adopted. These he enumerated. Mr. Adams prepared his 
amendments, which were brought before the convention, and 
referred to a committee, who made some inconsiderable al- 
terations, with which the constitution was accepted. Some 
of these were afterwards agreed to as amendments, and form, 
at present, a part of that instrument. 

In 1789, he was elected lieutenant governor of the state of 
Massachusetts, and continued to fill that office till 1794, when 
he was chosen governor of that state. He was annually re- 
elected till 1797. when, oppressed with years and bodily in- 
firmities, he declined being again a candidate, and retired to 
private life. 

After many years of incessant exertion, employed in the 
establishment of the independence of America, he died on the 
3rd of October, 1803, in the 82d year of his age, in indigent 
circumstances. 

Though poor he possessed a lofty and incorruptible spirit, 
and looked with disregard upon riches, if not with contempt; 
while at the same time he did not attempt to disguise that re- 



ADAMS. 19 

putation and popular influence were the great objects of his 
ambition. 

His private morals were pure, his manners grave and aus- 
tere, and his conversation, which generally turned on public 
characters and events, bold, decided, and sometimes coarse. 
Besides the occurrences of the passing day, he is said to have 
had three topics of conversation on which he delighted to ex- 
patiate, and to have always dwelt upon with great earnestness ; 
British oppression, the manners, laws, and customs of New 
England, and the importance to every republican government, 
of public schools for the instruction of the whole population 
of the state. 

The person of Samuel Adams was of the middle size. His 
countenance was a true index of his mind, and possessed those 
lofty and elevated characteristics, which are always found to 
accompany true greatness. 

He was a steady professor of the Christian religion, and 
uniformly attended public worship. His family devotions 
were regularly performed, and his morality was never im- 
peached. 

In his manners and deportment, he was sincere and unaf- 
fected ; in conversation, pleasing and instructive ; and in his 
friendships, steadfast and affectionate. 

His revolutionary labours were not surpassed by those of 
any individual. From the commencement of the dispute with 
Great Britain, he was incessantly employed in public service ; 
opposing at one time, the supremacy of "parliament in all 
cases ;" taking the lead in questions of controverted policy 
with the royal governors ; writing state papers from 1765 to 
1774 ; in planning and organizing clubs and committees; ha- 
ranguing in town meetings, or filling the columns of public 
prints adapted to the spirit and temper of the times. In addi- 
tion to these occupations, he maintained an extensive and la- 
borious correspondence with the friends of American free- 
dom in Great Britain and in the provinces. 

His private habits, which were simple, frugal, and unosten- 
tatious, led him to despise the luxury and parade affected by 
the crown officers ; and his detestation of royalty, and privi- 
leged classes, which no man could have felt more deeply, stim- 
ulated him to persevere in a course, which he conscientiously 
believed to be his duty to pursue, for the welfare of his 
country. 

The motives by which he was actuated, were not a sudden 
ebullition of temper, nor a transient impulse of resentment, 
but they were deliberate, methodical and unyielding. There 
was no pause, no hesitation, no despondency ; every day and 
every hour, was employed in some contribution towards the 



20 ADAMS. 

main design, if not in action, in writing ; if not with the pen. 
in conversation; if not in talking, in meditation. The means 
he advised were persuasion, petition, remonstrance, resolu- 
tions, and when all failed, defiance and extermination sooner 
than submission. With this unrelenting and austere spirit, 
there was nothing ferocious, or gloomy, or arrogant in his 
demeanor. His aspect was mild, dignified and gentlemanly. 
In his own state, or in the congress of the union, he was al- 
ways the advocate of the strongest measures, and in the dark- 
est hour he never wavered nor desponded. 

No man was more intrepid and dauntless, when encompass- 
ed by dangers, or more calm and unmoved amid public disas- 
ters and adverse fortune. His hold and daring conduct and 
language, subjected him to great personal hazards. Had any 
fatal event occurred to our country, by which she had fallen 
in her struggle for liberty, Samuel Adams would have been 
the first victim of ministerial vengeance. His blood would 
have been first shed as a sacrifice on the altar of tyranny, for 
the noble magnanimity and independence, with which he de- 
fended the cause of freedom. But such was his firmness, that 
he would have met death with as much composure, as he re- 
garded it with unconcern. 

His writings were numerous, and much distinguished for 
their elegance and fervour; but unfortunately the greater part 
of them have been lost, or so distributed, as to render their 
collection impossible. 

He was the author of a letter to the earl of Hillsborough ; 
of many political essays directed against the administration 
of governor Shirley ; of a letter in answer of Thomas Tainc, 
in defence of Christianity, and of an oration published in the 
year 1776, Four letters of his correspondence on government, 
arc extant, and were published in a pamphlet form in 1800. 

Mr. Adams's eloquence was of a peculiar character. His 
language was pure, concise, and impressive. He was more 
logical than figurative. His arguments were addressed rather 
to the understanding, than to the feelings : yet he always en- 
gaged the deepest attention of his audience. On ordinary oc- 
casions, there was nothing remarkable in his speeches ; but, 
on great questions, when his own feelings were interested, he 
would combine every tiling great in oratory. In the language 
of an elegant writer, the great qualities of his mind were fully 
displayed, in proportion as the field for their exertion was 
extended ; and the energy of his language was not infe- 
rior to the depth of his mind. It was an eloquence admirably 
adapted to the age in which he flourished, and exactly calcu- 
lated to attain the object of his pursuit. It may well be de - 
scribed in the language of the poet, *< thoughts which breathe, 



ALLEN. 21 

and words which burn." An eloquence, not consisting of 
theatrical gesture, or with the sublime enthusiasm and ardour 
of patriotism ; an eloquence, to which his fellow-citizens lis- 
tened with applause and rapture ; and little inferior to the best 
models of antiquity for simplicity, majesty, and persuasion. 
The consideration of the character of Samuel Adams, when 
taken in connexion with the uncommon degree of popularity 
which his name had obtained in this country, may suggest an 
important moral lesson to those of our youth, whom a gener- 
ous ambition incites to seek the temple of glory through the 
thorny paths of political strife. Let them compare him with 
men confessedly very far his superiors in every gift of intel- 
lect, of education, and of fortune: with those who have gov- 
erned empires, and swayed the fate of nations ; and then let 
them consider how poor and how limited is their fame, when 
placed in competition with that of this humble patriot. The 
memory of those men, tarnished as it is by the history of their 
profligacy, their corruption, and their crimes ; is preserved 
only among the advocates and slaves of legitimacy, while the 
name of Samuel Adams is enrolled among the benefactors of 
his country, and repeated with respect and gratitude by the 
lowest citizens of a free state. 

ALLEN, Etiiaiv, a brigadier general in the revolutiona- 
ry war, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut. While he was 
young, his parents emigrated to Vermont. At the commence- 
ment of the disturbances in this territory, about the year 177 0, 
he took a bold and active part in favor of the Green Moun- 
tain Boys, as the settlers were then called, in opposition to 
the claims of the government of the state of New York. So 
obnoxious had he rendered himself, that an act of outlawry 
against him was passed by the government of that colony, 
and five hundred guineas were offered for his apprehension; but 
his party was too numerous and too faithful, to permit him to 
be disturbed by any apprehensions for his safety. During the 
period that this subject was agitated, in all the struggles 
whicli it occasioned, and in which he took a part, he was 
uniformly successful. He not only proved a valuable friend 
to those, whose cause he had espoused, but he was humane and 
generous towards those with whom he had to contend. When 
called to take the field, he showed himself an able leader and 
an intrepid soldier. 

The history of this celebrated controversy, between Ver- 
mont and New York, is fully explained in the Vermont State 
Papers, lately compiled and published by William Slade. 
Jun. Esq. from which we select the following brief view of 
the dispute: 

"It will be recollected that the whole property of the set- 



22 ALLEN. 

tiers, on the New-Hampshire grants, had been long put at 
hazard by the claims of New- York. In face of the royal pro- 
hibition of the 24th of July, 1767, the government of that 
Province had proceeded to convey the lands, occupied under 
grants from the same royal authority. The Courts at Alba- 
ny had, uniformly, decided in favor of the New-York grantees. 
Writs of possessi©n had been issued; the execution of which 
was regarded by the settlers as nothing less than legalized 
robbery. They therefore resisted; and, for uniting in this 
resistance, had been indicted as rioters, and subjected to heavy 
penalties. Notwithstanding the attempt which had been 
made to arrest the progress of the controversy, it does not ap- 
pear that the government of New- York had, at any time, ta- 
ken measures to restrain the location and settlement of lands 
under New- York titles. The bone of contention, therefore, 
still remained; and the failure of an attempted reconciliation 
had served to embitter the resentment of the contending par- 
ties, and produce a state of hostility, more decided and alarm- 
ing- 

"The mass of the settlers, on the New Hampshire grants, 
consisted of a brave, hardy race of men. Their minds, na- 
turally strong and active, had been roused to the exercise of 
their highest energies, in a controversy, involving every thing 
that was dear to them. Though unskilled in the rules of lo- 
gic, they, nevertheless, reasoned conclusively; and having 
once come to a decision, they wanted not the courage or con- 
duct necessary to carry it into execution. 

"Foremost among them, stood Ethan Allen. Bold, ar- 
dent, and unyielding; possessing a vigorous intellect, and an 
uncommon share of self-confidence, he was peculiarly fitted 
to become a successful leader of the opposition. In the pro- 
gress of this controversy, several pamphlets were written by 
him, exhibiting, in a manner peculiar to himself, and well 
suited to the state of public feeling, the injustice of the New 
York claims. These pamphlets were extensively circulated, 
and contributed much to inform the minds, arouse the zeal, 
and unite the eiforts, of the settlers." 

"Enjoying, as we now do, the protection of just and equal 
laws, it is difficult to form a proper estimate of the measures 
we are reviewing. We shall be less inclined to censure them 
as unnecessarily severe, if we reflect, that there was no choice 
left to the New-Hampshire grantees, between an entire sur- 
render of their farms, rescued from the wildness of nature, 
and made valuable, by their industry; and a determined and 
persevering resistance by force. Necessity drove them to re- 
sistance, and sound policy dictated that it should be of a cha- 
racter to inspire a full belief that it would be made effectual." 



ALLEN. 23 

"It is difficult to conjecture what would have been the issue 
Of this controversy, had not its progress been suddenly ar- 
rested by the commencement of the revolutionary war. The 
events of the memorable 19th of April, 1775, produced a 
shock, which was felt to every extremity of the colonies : and 
"local and provincial contests were, at once, swallowed up 
by the novelty, the grandeur, and the importance of the con- 
test thus opened between Great Britain and America." 

The news of the battle of Lexington determined colonel 
Allen to engage on the side of his country, and inspired him 
with the desire of demonstrating his attachment to liberty by 
some bold exploit. While his mind was in this state, a plan 
for taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point by surprise, which 
was formed by several gentlemen in Connecticut, was com- 
municated to him, and he readily engaged in the project. 
Receiving directions from the general assembly of Connecti- 
cut, to raise the green mountain boys, and conduct the enter- 
prise, he collected two hundred of the hardy settlers, and pro- 
ceeded to Castleton. Here he was unexpectedly joined by col- 
onel Arnold, who had been commissioned by the Massachu- 
setts' committee to raise four hundred men and effect the same 
object, which was now about to be accomplished. As he had 
not raised the men, he was admitted to act as assistant to col- 
onel Allen. They reached the lake opposite Ticonderoga on 
the evening of the 9th of May, 1775. With the utmost diffi- 
culty, boats were procured, and eighty -three men were landed 
near the garrison. The approach of day rendering it danger- 
ous to wait for the rear, it was determined immediately to pro- 
ceed. The commander in chief now addressed his men, repre- 
senting that they had been, for a number of years, a scourge to 
arbitrary power, and famed for their valor; and concluded 
with saying, "I now propose to advance before you, and in per- 
son conduct you through the wicket gate, and you that will go 
with me voluntarily in this desperate attempt, poise your fire- 
locks." At the head of the centre file he marched instantly to 
the gate, where a sentry snapped his gun at him, and retreat- 
ed through the covered way; he pressed forward into the fort, 
and formed his men on the parade in such a manner as to face 
two opposite barracks. Three huzzas awakened the garri- 
son. A sentry, who asked quarter, pointed out the apart- 
ments of the commanding officer; and Allen, with a drawn 
sword over the head of captain De la Place, who was un- 
dressed, demanded the surrender of the fort. "By what au- 
thority do you demand it?" inquired the astonished comman- 
der. "I demand it," said Allen, "in the name of the great 
Jehovah and of the continental congress." The summons 
could not be disobeyed, and the fort with its very valuable 



24 ALLEN. 

stores and forty-nine prisoners, was immediately surrendered. 
Crown Point was taken the same day, and the capture of a 
sloop of war soon afterwards made Allen and his hrave party 
complete masters of lake Champlain. 

In the fall of 1775, he was sent twice into Canada, to ob- 
serve the dispositions of the people, and attach them, if possi- 
ble, to the American cause. During this last tour, colonel 
Brown met him, and proposed an attack on Montreal, in con- 
cert. The proposal was eagerly embraced, and colonel Al- 
len with one hundred and ten men, near eighty of whom were 
Canadians, crossed the river in the night of the 24th of Sep- 
tember. In the morning he waited with impatience for the sig- 
nal of colonel Brown, who agreed to co-operate with him; but 
he waited in vain. He made a resolute defence against an at- 
tack of five hundred men, and it was not till bis own party was 
reduced, by desertions, to the number of thirty-one, and he 
had retreated near a mile, that he surrendered. A moment 
afterwards a furious savage rushed towards him, and present- 
ed his firelock with the intent of killing him. It was only by 
making use of the body of the officer, to whom he had given 
his sword, as a shield, that he escaped destruction. 

He was now kept for some time in irons and treated with 
great severity and cruelty. He was sent to England as a 
prisoner, being assured that the halter would be the reward 
of las rebellion when he arrived there. After his arrival, 
about the middle of December, he was lodged for a short 
time in Pcndennis castle, near Falmouth. On the 8th of Ja- 
nuary, 1776, he was put on board a frigate and by a circuitous 
route carried to Halifax. Here he remained confined in the 
jail from June to October, when he was removed to New York, 
During the passage to this place, captain Burke, a daring 
prisoner, proposed to kill the British captain and seize the 
frigate; but colonel Allen refused to engage in the plot, and 
was, probably, the means of preserving the life of captain 
Smith, who had treated him very politely. He was kept at 
New York, about a year and a half, sometimes imprisoned 
and sometimes permitted to be on parole. While here, he had 
an opportunity to observe the inhuman manner, in which the 
American prisoners were treated. In one of the churches, in 
which they were crowded, he saw seven lying dead at one 
time, and others biting pieces of chips from hunger. He cal- 
culated, that of the prisoners taken at Long Island and fort 
Washington, near two thousand perished by hunger and cold, 
or in consequence of diseases occasioned by the impurity of 
their prisons. 

Colonel Allen was exchanged for colonel Campbell, May 6, 
1778, and after having repaired to head quarters, and offer- 



ALLEN. 25 

ed his services to general Washington in case his health should 
be restored, he returned to Vermont. His arrival on the 
evening of the last of May, gave his friends great joy, and it 
was announced by the discharge of cannon. As an expression 
of confidence in his patriotism and military talents, he was 
very soon appointed to the command of the state militia. It 
does not appear, however, that his intrepidity was ever again 
brought to the test, though his patriotism was tried by an un- 
successful attempt of the British to bribe him to attempt a 
union of Vermont with Canada. He died suddenly at his 
estate in Colchester, February 13, 1789. 

Colonel Allen possessed a mind naturally strong, vigorous 
and eccentric, but it had not been improved by an early edu- 
cation. He was brave in the most imminent danger, and 
possessed a bold, daring, and adventurous spirit, which nei- 
ther feared dangers nor regarded difficulties. He was also 
ingenuous, frank, generous and patriotic, which are the usual 
accompanying virtues of native bravery and courage. He 
wrote and published a narrative of his sufferings during his 
imprisonment in England and in New York; comprising also 
various observations upon the events of the war. the conduct 
of the British, and their treatment of their prisoners. 

ALLEN, Ebenezer, was one of the first soldiers of the 
revolution. He was in the party that went against Ticonde- 
roga. With forty men he went upon the hill Defiance, and 
carried the fortress without loss of a man. He also distin- 
guished himself in the battle of Bennington; taking advan- 
tage of a breastwork of rocks, he contended with the front of 
the enemy, till he caused a temporary retreat. He was among 
those who exerted themselves in making Vermont a separate 
state, and lived to see not only the wilderness subdued, where 
he first ploughed the ground, but the places filled with inhab- 
itants. The account of his death is mentioned in the newspa- 
pers of the year 1805. 

ALLEN, Moses, minister of Midway, Georgia, and a dis- 
tinguished friend of his country, was born in Northampton, 
Massachusetts, September 14, 1748. He was educated at the 
college in New Jersey, where he graduated in 1776, and was 
licensed by the presbytery of New Brunswick, February 1, 
1774, and recommended by them as an ingenious, prudent, 
pious man. In March following he preached first at Christ's 
church parish, about twenty miles from Charleston, in South 
Carolina. Here he was ordained, March 16, 1775, by the Rev. 
Mr. Zubly, Mr. Edmonds and William Tennent. He preach- 
ed his farewell sermon in this place. June 8, 1776, and was 
soon afterwards established at Midway, to which place he 
had been earnestly solicited to remove. 

4 



26 ALEXANDER. 

The British army from Florida under General Prevost dis- 
persed his society in 1778, and burned the meeting house, al- 
most every dwelling house, and the crops of rice then in 
stacks. In December, when Savannah was reduced by the 
British troops, he was taken prisoner. The continental offi- 
cers were sent to Sunbury on parole, but Mr. Allen, who was 
chaplain to the Georgia brigade, was denied that privilege. 
His warm exhortations from the pulpit, and his animated ex- 
ertions in the field exposed him to the particular resentment 
of the British. They sent him on board the prison ships. 
Wearied with a confinement of a number of weeks in a loath- 
some place, and seeing no prospect of relief, he determined to 
attempt the recovery of his liberty by throwing himself in the 
river, and swimming to an adjacent point; but he was drown- 
ed in the attempt on the evening of February 8, 1779, in the 
51st year of his age. His body was washed on a neighbor- 
ing island, and was found by some of his friends. They re- 
quested of the captain of a British vessel some boards to make 
a coffin, but could not procure them. 

Mr. Allen, notwithstanding his clerical function, appeared 
among the foremost in the day of battle, and on all occasions 
sought the post of danger as the post of honor. The friends 
of independence admired him for his popular talents, his cou- 
rage, and his many virtues. The enemies of independence 
could accuse him of nothing more, than a vigorous exertion 
of all his powers in defending what he conscientiously believ- 
ed to be the rights of his injured country. 

ALEXANDER, William, commonly called lord Ster- 
ling, a major-general in the American army, in the revolu- 
tionary war with Great Britain, was a native of the city of 
New York, but spent a considerable part of his life in New 
Jersey. He was considered by many as the rightful heir to 
the title and estate of an earldom in Scotland, of which coun-. 
try his father was a native; and although, when he went to 
North Britain in pursuit of this inheritance, lie failed of ob- 
taining an acknowledgment of his claim by government: yet, 
among his friends and acquaintances, he received by courtesy 
the title of lord Sterling. He discovered an early fondness 
for the study of mathematics and astronomy, and attained 
great eminence in these sciences. 

In the battle on Long Island, August 27, 1776, he was taken 
prisoner, after having secured to a large part of the de- 
tachment an opportunity to escape by a bold attack, with four 
hundred men, upon a corps under lord Cornwallis. In the 
battle of Gennantown, his division and the brigades of Gen- 
erals Nash and Maxwell, formed the corps de reserve. At the 
battle of Monmouth he commanded the left wing of the Ame- 
rican army. 



ALEXANDER. 27 

Ramsay, in his history of the American revolution, gives 
the following account of the battle of Monmouth: 

"The royal army passed over the Delaware into New Jer- 
sey. General Washington, having penetrated into their de- 
sign of evacuating Philadelphia, had previously detached gen- 
eral Maxwell's brigade, to co-operate with the Jersey militia 
in obstructing their progress, till time would be given for his 
army to overtake them. The British were encumbered with 
enormous baggage, which, together with the impediments 
thrown into their way, greatly retarded their march. The 
American army, having, in pursuit of the British, crossed 
the Delaware, six hundred men were immediately detached, 
under colonel Morgan, to reinforce general Maxwell. Wash- 
ington halted his troops, when they had marched to the vicin- 
ity of Princeton. The general officers in the American army, 
being asked by the commander in chief. "Will it be advisa- 
ble to hazard a general action?" answered in the negative, 
but recommended a detachment of fifteen hundred men, to be 
immediately sent, to act as occasion might serve, on the ene- 
my's left flank and rear. This was immediately forwarded 
under general Scott. When sir Henry Clinton had advanced 
to Allentown, he determined, instead of keeping the direct 
road towards Staten Island, to draw towards the sea coast 
and to pass on towards Sandy Hook. General Washington, 
on receiving intelligencethat sir Henry was proceeding in 
that direction towards Monmouth court-house, despatched 
one thousand men under general Wayne, and sent the mar- 
quis de la Fayette to take command of the whole advanced 
corps, with orders to seize the first fair opportunity of attack- 
ing the enemy's rear. General Lee, who, having been late- 
ly exchanged, had joined the army, was offered this command, 
but he declined it, as he was in principle against hazarding 
an attack. The whole army followed at a proper distance, 
for supporting the advanced corps, and reached Cranberry 
the next morning. Sir Henry Clinton, sensible of the ap- 
proach of the Americans, placed his grenadiers, light infan- 
try and chasseurs, in his rear, and his baggage in his front. 
General Washington increased his advanced corps with two 
brigades, and sent general Lee, who now wished for the com- 
mand, to take charge of the whole, and followed with the main 
army to give it support. On the next morning orders were 
sent to Lee, to move on and attack, unless there should be 
powerful reasons to the contrary. When Washington had 
marched about five miles, to support the advanced corps, he 
found the whole of it retreating by Lee's orders, and without 
having made any opposition of consequence. Washington 
rode up to Lee and proposed certain questions to him, which 



28 ALEXANDER. 

implied censure. Lee answered with warmth and unsuitable 
language. The commander in chief ordered colonel Stewart's 
and lieutenant colonel Ramsay's battalions, to form on a piece 
of ground, which he judged suitable for giving a check to the 
advancing enemy. Lee was then asked if he would command 
on that ground, to which he consented, and was ordered to 
take proper measures for checking the enemy, to which ho 
replied, "your orders shall be obeyed, and I will not be the 
first to leaxe the field." Washington then rode to the main 
army, which was formed with the utmost expedition. A warm 
cannonade immediately commenced, between the British and 
American artillery, and heavy firing between the advanced 
troops of the British army, and the two battalions which gen 
eral Washington had halted. These stood their ground, till 
they were intermixed with apart of the British army. Lieu- 
tenant colonel Ramsay, the commander of one of them, was 
wounded and taken prisoner. General Lee continued till the 
last on the field of battle, and brought off the rear of the re- 
treating troops. 

"The check the British received, gave time to make a dis- 
position of the left wing, and second line of the American 
army in the wood, and on the eminence to which Lee was re- 
treating. On this some cannon were placed by lord Ster- 
ling, who commanded the left wing, which, with the co-oper- 
ation of some parties of infantry, effectually stopped the ad- 
vance of the British in that quarter. General Greene took 
a very advantageous position, on the right of lord Sterling. 
The British attempted to turn the left flank of the Americans, 
but were repulsed. They also made a movement to the right, 
with as little success, for Greene with artillery disappointed 
their design. Wayne advanced with a body of troops, and 
kept up so severe and well directed a fire, that the British 
were soon compelled to give way. They retired and took the 
position which Lee had before occupied. Washington re- 
solved to attack them, and ordered general Poor to move 
round upon their right, and general Woodford to their left; 
but they could not get within reach before it was dark. These 
remained on the ground which they had been directed to oc- 
cupy during the night, with an intention of attacking, early 
next morning, and the main body lay on their arms in the 
field to be ready for supporting them. General Washington 
reposed himself in his cloak, under a tree, in hopes of renew- 
ing the action the next day. But these hopes were frustrat- 
ed: The British troops marched away in the night, in such 
silence, that general Poor, though he lay very near them, 
knew nothing of their departure. They left behind them, 
Cour officers and about forty privates, ail so badly wounded, 



ARNOLD. 29 

that they could not be removed. Their other wounded were 
carried off, The British pursued their march without fur- 
ther interruption, and soon reached the neighborhood of San- 
dy Hook, without the loss of either their covering party or 
baggage. The American general declined ail further pursuit 
of the royal army, and soon after drew off his troops to the 
borders of the North river. The loss of the Americans, iu 
killed and wounded, was about two hundred and fifty. The 
loss of the royal army, inclusive of prisoners, was about three 
hundred and fifty. Lieutenant colonel Monckton, one of the 
British slain, on account of his singular merit, was univer- 
sally lamented. Colonel Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and major 
Dickenson, of Virginia, officers highly esteemed by their coun- 
try, fell in this engagement. The emotions of the mind, 
added to fatigue in a very hot day, brought on such a fatal 
suppression of the vital powers, that some of the Americans, 
and fifty-nine of the British were found dead on the field of 
battle, witltout any marks of violence upon their bodies." 

Lord Sterling died at Albany, January 15, 1783, aged 57 
years. He was a brave, discerning, and intrepid officer. 

ARNOLD, Benedict, a major general in the American 
army, during the revolutionary war, and infamous for desert- 
ing the cause of his country, was early chosen captain of a 
volunteer company in New Haven, Connecticut, where he 
lived. After hearing of the battle of Lexington, he immedi- 
ately marched, with his company, for the American head 
quarters, and reached Cambridge, April 29, 1775. 

He immediately waited on the Massachusetts committee of 
safety, and informed them of the defenceless state of Ticon- 
deroga. The committee appointed him a colonel, and com- 
missioned him to raise four hundred men, and to take that 
fortress. He proceeded directly to Vermont, and when he 
arrived at Castletonwas attended by one servant only. Here 
he joined colonel Allen, and on the 10th of May the fortress 
was taken. 

In the fall of 1775, he was sent by the commander in chief 
to penetrate through the wilderness of the district of Maine, 
into Canada. On thel6th of September, he commenced his 
march with about one thousand men, consisting of New Eng- 
land infantry, some volunteers, a company of artillery, and 
three companies of riflemen. One division was obliged to re- 
turn, or it would have perished by hunger. After sustain- 
ing almost incredible hardships, he, in six weeks, arrived at 
Point Levi, opposite Quebec. The appearance of an army, 
emerging from the wilderness, threw the city into the greatest 
consternation. In this moment of surprise Arnold might pro- 



SO ARNOLD. 

bably have become master of the place, but the small crafts 
and boats in the river were removed out of his reach. 

It seems that his approach was not altogether unexpected. 
He had, imprudently, a number of days before, sent forward 
a letter to a friend by an Indian, who betrayed him. A de- 
lay of several days on account of the difficulty of passing the 
river was inevitable, and the critical moment was lost. 

On the 14th of November he crossed the St. Lawrence in 
the night; and, ascending the precipice, which Wolfe had 
climbed before him, formed bis small corps on the height, 
near the memorable plains of Abraham. With only about 
seven hundred men, one third of whose muskets had been ren- 
dered useless in the march through the wilderness, success 
could not be expected. After parading some days on the 
heights, near the town, and sending two flags to summon the 
inhabitants, he retired to Point aux Trembles, twenty miles 
above Quebec, and there waited the arrival of Montgomery, 
who joined him on the first of December. The city was im- 
mediately besieged, but the best measures had been taken for 
its defence. On the morning of the last day of the year, an 
assault was made on the one side of the city by Montgomery, 
who was killed. At the same time, colonel Arnold, at the 
head of about three hundred and fifty men, made a desperate 
attack on the opposite side. Advancing with the utmost in- 
trepidity along the St. Charles, through a narrow path, ex- 
posed to an incessant fire of grape shot and musquetry, as he 
approached the first barrier he received a musket ball in the 
leg, which shattered the bone; and he was carried off to the 
camp. Though the attack was unsuccessful, the blockade of 
Quebec was continued till May, 1770, when the army, which 
was in no condition to risk an assault, was removed to a 
more defensible position. Arnold was compelled to relin- 
quish one post after another, till the 18th of June, when he 
quitted Canada. After this period, he exhibited great bra- 
very in the command of the American fleet on lake Cham- 
plain. 

In August. 1777, he relieved fort Schuyler, under the com- 
mand of colonel Gansevoort, which was invested by colonel 
St. Lcger, with an army of from fifteen to eighteen hundred 
men. In the battle, near Stillwater, September 19th, he 
conducted himself with his usual intrepidity, being engaged, 
incessantly, for four hours. In the action of October 7th, 
after the British had been driven into the lines, Arnold press- 
ed forward, and under a tremendous fire, assaulted their 
works from right to left. The intrench ments were at length 
forced, and with a few men he actually entered the works ; 
but his horse being killed, and he himself badly wounded in 



ARNOLD. 31 

the leg, he found it necessary to withdraw, and as it was now 
almost dark, to desist from the attack. 

Being rendered unfit for active service in consequence of 
his wound, after the recovery of Philadelphia, he was ap- 
pointed to the command of the American garrison. When 
he entered the city, he made the house of governor Penn, the 
best house in the city, his head quarters. This he furnished 
in a very costly manner, and lived far beyond his income. 
He had wasted the plunder, which he had seized at Montreal, 
in his retreat from Canada; and at Philadelphia, he was de- 
termined to make new acquisitions. He laid his hands on 
every thing in the city, which could be considered as the pro- 
perty of those who were unfriendly to the cause of his coun- 
try. He was charged with oppression, extortion, and enor- 
mous charges upon the public, in his accounts ; and with ap- 
plying the public money and property to his own private use. 
Such was his conduct, that he drew upon himself the odium 
of the inhabitants, not only of the city, but of the province 
in general. He was engaged in trading speculations, and 
had shares in several privateers, but was unsuccessful. 

From the judgment of the commissioners, who had been 
appointed to inspect his accounts, and who had rejected above 
half the amount of his demands, he appealed to congress ; 
and they appointed a committee of their own body to examine 
and settle the business. The committee confirmed the report 
of the commissioners, and thought they had allowed him 
more than he had any right to expect or demand. By these 
disappointments he became irritated, and he gave full scope 
to his resentment. His invectives against congress were not 
less violent, than those which lie had before thrown out against 
the commissioners. He was, however, soon obliged to abide 
the judgment of a court-martial, upon tiic charges exhibited 
against him by the executive of Pennsylvania ; and he was 
subjected to the mortification of receiving a reprimand from 
Washington. His trial commenced in June, 1778, but such 
were the delays occasioned by the movements of the army, 
that it was not concluded until the 26th of January, 1779. 
The sentence of a reprimand was approved by congress, and 
was soon afterwards carried into execution. 

Such was the humiliation, to which general Arnold was re- 
duced, inconsequence of yielding to the temptations of pride 
and vanity, and indulging himself in the pleasures of a sump- 
tuous table and expensive equipage. 

From this time, probably, his proud spirit revolted from 
the cause of America. He turned his eyes to West Point as 
an acquisition, which would give value to treason, while its 
loss would inflict a mortal wound on his former friends. He 



$2 ARNOLD. 

addressed himself to the delegation of New-York, in which 
state his reputation was peculiarly high ; and a member of 
congress from this state, recommended him to Washington 
for the service which he desired. But this request could not 
be immediately complied with. The same application to the 
commander in chief was made not long afterwards through 
general Schuyler. Washington observed, that, as there was 
a prospect of an active campaign, he should be gratified with 
the aid of general Arnold in the field, but intimated, at the 
same time, that he should receive the appointment requested, 
if it should be more pleasing to him. 

Arnold, without discovering much solicitude, repaired to 
cam]) in the beginning of August, and renewed, in person, 
the solicitations, which had been before indirectly made. He 
was now offered the command of the left wing of the army, 
which was advancing against New- York, but he declined it 
under the pretext, that in consequence of his wounds, he was 
unable to perform the active duties, of the field. Without a 
suspicion of his patriotism, he was invested with the command 
of West Point. Previously to his soliciting this station, he 
bad, in a letter to colonel Robinson, signified his change of 
principles, and his wish to restore himself to the favour of 
his prince, by some signal proof of his repentance. This 
letter opened to him a correspondence w ith Sir Henry Clinton, 
the object of which was to concert the means of putting the 
important post, which he commanded, into the possession of 
the British general. 

His plan, it is believed, was to have drawn the greater part 
of his army without the works, under the pretext of fighting 
the enemy in the defiles, and to have left unguarded a desig- 
nated pass, through which the assailants might securely ap- 
proach, and surprise the fortress. His troops he intended to 
place, so that they would be compelled to surrender, or be cut 
in pieces. But just as his scheme was ripe for execution, 
the wise Disposer of events, who so often and so remarkably 
interposed in favour of the American cause, blasted his de- 
signs. 

Major Andre, Adjutant general of the British army, was 
selected as the person, to whom the maturing of Arnold's 
treason, and the arrangements for its execution should be 
committed. A correspondence was, for some time, carried 
on between them under a mercantile disguise, and the feigned 
names of Gustavus and Anderson ; and at length, to facilitate 
their communications, the Vulture sloop of war moved up the 
North river and took a station convenient for the purpose, 
but not so near as to excite suspii i>n. An interview was 
agreed on, and in the night of September the 21st, 1780, he 



ARNOLD. 35 

was taken in a boat, which was dispatched for the purpose, 
and carried to the beach without the posts of both armies, 
under a pass for John Anderson. He met general Arnold at 
the house of a Mr. Smith. While the conference was yet un- 
finished, daylight approached ; and to avoid the danger of 
discovery, it was proposed, that he should remain concealed 
till the succeeding night. He is understood to have refused 
to be carried within the American posts, but the promise 
made him by Arnold, to respect this objection, was not ob- 
served. He was carried within them contrary to his wishes 
and against his knowledge. He continued with Arnold the 
succeeding day, and when, on the following night, he pro- 
posed to return to the Vulture, the boatmen refused to carry 
him, because she had, during the day, shifted her station, in 
consequence of a gun having been moved to the shore, and 
brought to bear upon her. This embarrassing circumstance 
reduced him to the necessity of endeavouring to reach New- 
York by land. Yielding, with reluctance, to the urgent re- 
presentations of Arnold, he laid aside his regimentals, which 
lie had hitherto worn under a surtout, and put on a plain suit 
of clothes ; and, receiving a pass from the American general, 
authorising him, under the feigned name of John Anderson, 
to proceed on the public service, to the White Plains, or 
lower, if he thought proper, he set out on his return. He 
had passed all the guards and posts on the road without sus- 
picion, and was proceeding to New-York in perfect security, 
when, on the 23d of September, one of the three militia-men, 
who were employed with others in scouting parties between 
the lines of the two armies, springing suddenly from his co- 
vert into the road, seized the reins of his bridle and stopped 
his horse. Instead of producing his pass, Andre, with a 
want of self-possession, which can be attributed only to a 
kind Providence, asked the man hastily, where he belonged ; 
and being answered "to below," replied immediately, "and 
so do I." He then declared himself to be a British officer, 
on urgent business, and begged that he might not be detained. 
The other two militia men coming up at this moment, he dis- 
covered his mistake ; but it was too late to repair it. He of- 
fered a purse of gold and his gold watch, and said, " this 
will convince you that I am a gentleman, and if you will suf- 
fer me to pass, I will send to New York, and give you any 
amount you shall name, in cash, or in dry goods;" and, point- 
ing to an adjacent wood, "you may keep me in that wood till 
it shall be delivered to you." All his offers, however, were 
rejected with disdain, and they declared that ten thousand 
guineas, or any other sum would be no temptation. It is to 

5 



34 ARNOLD. 

their virtue, no less glorious to America, than Arnold's apos* 
tacy is disgraceful, that his detestable crimes were discovered. 

The militiamen, whose names were John Paulding, David 
"Williams, and Isaac Vanwcrt, proceeded to search him. 
They found concealed in his boots, exact returns, in Arnold's 
hand writing, of the state of the forces, ordnance, and de- 
fences of West Point and its dependencies; critical remarks 
on the works, and an estimate of the men ordinarily employ- 
ed in them, with otber interesting papers. Andre was car- 
ried before lieutenant colonel Jameson, the officer command- 
ing the scouting parties on the lines, and regardless of him- 
self, and only anxious for the safety of Arnold, he still main- 
tained the character which he had assumed, and requested 
Jameson to inform his commanding officer that Anderson was 
taken. An express was accordingly dispatched, and the trai- 
tor, thus becoming acquainted with his danger, escaped. 

Major Andre, after his detection, was permitted to send a 
message to Arnold, to give him notice of his danger : and 
the traitor found opportunity to escape on board the Vulture, 
on the 25th of September, 1780, a few hours before the return 
of Washington, who had been absent on a journey to Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. It is supposed, however, that he would 
not have escaped, had not an express to the commander in 
chief, with an account of the capture of Andre, missed him 
by taking a different road from the one which he travelled. 

Arnold, on the very day of his escape, wrote a letter to 
Washington, declaring that the love of his country had gov- 
erned him in his late conduct, and requesting him to protect 
Mrs. Arnold. She was conveyed to her husband at New 
York, and his clotbes and baggage, for which he had written, 
Avere transmitted to him. During the exertions which were 
made to rescue Andre from the destruction, which tbreatened 
him, Arnold had the hardihood to interpose. He appealed 
to the humanity of the commander in chief, and then sought 
to intimidate him by stating the situation of many of the prin- 
cipal characters of South Carolina, who had forfeited their 
lives, but had hitherto been spared through the clemency of 
the British general. This clemency, he said, could no longer, 
in justice, be extended to them, should major Andre suffer. 

"When Arnold's treason was known at Philadelphia, an 
artist of that city constructed an effigy of him, large as life, 
and seated in a cart, with the figure of the devil at his elbow, 
holding a lantern up to the face of the traitor, to show him to 
the people, having his name and crime in capital letters. 
The cart was paraded the whole evening through the streets 
of the city with drums and fifes playing the rogue's march, 
with other marks of infamy, and was attended bv avast con- 



ARNOLD. 35 

course of people. The effigy was finally hanged for the want 
of the original, and then committed to the flames. Yet this 
is the man on whom the British bestowed ten thousand pounds 
sterling as the price of his treason, and appointed to the 
rank of brigadier general in their service. It could scarcely 
be imagined that there was an officer of honour left in that 
army, who would debase himself and his commission by ser- 
ving under or ranking with Benedict Arnold! 

Arnold preserved the rank of brigadier general throughout 
the war. Yet he. must have been held in contempt and detes- 
tation by the generous and honourable. It was impossible 
for men of this description, even when acting with him, to 
forget that he was a traitor, first the slave of his rage, then 
purchased with gold, and finally secured by the blood of one 
of the most accomplished officers in the British army. One 
would suppose that his mind could not have been much at ease; 
but he had proceeded so far in vice, that perhaps his reflec- 
tions gave him but little trouble. "I am mistaken," says 
Washington, in a private letter, "if, at this time, Arnold is 
undergoing the torments of a mental hell. He wants feeling. 
From some traits of his character, which have lately come to 
my knowledge, he seems to have been so hacknied in crime, 
so lost to all sense of honour and shame, that while his facul- 
ties still enable him to continue his sordid pursuits, there will 
be no time for remorse." 

Arnold found it necessary to make some exertions to secure 
the attachment of his new friends. With the hope of alluring 
many of the discontented to his standard, he published an ad- 
dress to the inhabitants of America, in which he endeavoured 
to justify his conduct. He had encountered the dangers of 
The field, he said, from apprehension that the rights of his coun- 
try were in danger. He had acquiesced in the declaration of 
independence, though he thought it precipitate. But the re- 
jection of the overtures, made by Great Britain in 1778, and 
the French alliance, had opened his eyes to the ambitious 
views of those, who would sacrifice the happiness of their 
country to their own aggrandizement, and had made him a 
confirmed loyalist. He artfully mingled assertions, that the 
principal members of congress held the people m sovereign 
contempt. 

This was followed in about a fortnight by a proclamation, 
addressed " to the officers and soldiers of the continental 
army, who have the real interest of their country at heart, 
and who are determined to be no longer the tools and dupes of 
congress or of France." To induce the American officers and 
soldiers to desert the cause, which they had embraced, he re- 
presented that the corps of cavalry and infantry, which he 



3G ARNOLD. 

was authorized to raise, would be upon the same looting with 
the other troops in the British service; that he should with 
pleasure, advance those, whose valour he had witnessed ; and 
that the private men, who joined him, should receive a bounty 
of three guineas each, besides payment, at the full value, for 
horses, arms, and accoutrements. His object was the peace, 
liberty, and safety of America. " You are promised liberty," 
lie exclaims, "but is there an individual in the enjoyment of 
it saving your oppressors? Who among you dare to speak or 
write what he thinks against the tyranny, which has robbed 
you of your property, imprisons your persons, drags you to 
the field of battle, and is daily deluging your country with 
your blood?" "What," he exclaims again, "is America but 
a land of widows, orphans, and beggars? As to you, who 
have been soldiers in the continental army, can you at this 
day want evidence, that the funds of your country are ex- 
hausted, or that the managers have applied them to their pri- 
vate uses? In either case you surely can no longer continue 
in their service with honour or advantage. Yet you have 
hitherto been their supporters in that cruelty, which, with 
equal indifference to yours, as well as to the labour and blood 
of others, is devouring a country, that from the moment you 
quit their colours, will be redeemed from their tyranny." 

These proclamations did not produce the effect designed, 
and in all the hardships, sufferings, and irritations of the 
war, Arnold remains the solitary instance of an American 
officer, who abandoned the side first embraced in the contest, 
and turned his sword upon his former companions in arms. 

He was soon despatched by sir Henry Clinton, to make a 
diversion in Virginia. With about seventeen hundred men 
he arrived in the Chesapeake, in January, 1781, and being 
supported by such a naval force, as was suited to the nature 
of the service, he committed extensive ravages on the rivers 
and along the unprotected coasts. It is said, that while on 
this expedition, Arnold enquired of an American captain, 
whom he had taken prisoner, what the Americans would do 
with him if he should fall into their hands. The captain a1 
first declined giving him an answer, but upon being repeatedly 
urged to it, he said, "Why, sir, if I must answer your ques- 
tion, you must excuse my telling you the plain truth: if my 
"countrymen should catch you, 1 believe they would first cut 
t'off that lame leg, which was wounded in the cause nj freedom 
"and virtue, and bury it with the honours of war, and after- 
" wards hang the remainder of your body in gibbets." The 
reader will recollect that the captain alluded to the wound 
Arnold received in one of his legs, at the attack upon Quebec, 
in 1776. 



ARNOLD. 57 

After his return from Virginia, he was appointed to con- 
duct an expedition, the object of which was the town of New 
London, in his native county. The troops employed therein, 
were landed in two detachments, one on each side of the har- 
bour. The one commanded by lieutenant colonel Eyre, and 
the other by Arnold. He took fort Trumbull without much 
opposition. Fort Griswold was furiously attacked by lieu- 
tenant colonel Eyre. The garrison defended themselves with 
great resolution, but after a severe conflict of forty minutes, 
the fort was carried by the enemy. The Americans had not 
more than six or seven men killed, when the British carried 
the lines, but a severe execution took place afterwards, 
though resistance had ceased. An officer of the conquering 
troops enquired, on his entering the fort, who commanded. 
Colonel Lcdyard, presenting his sword, answered, "I did, 
hut you do now;" and was immediately run through the body 
and killed. Between thirty and forty were wounded, and 
about forty were carried off prisoners. On the part of the 
British forty-eight were killed, and one hundred and forty- 
live wounded. About fifteen vessels loaded with the effects of 
the inhabitants retreated up the river, and four others re- 
mained in the harbour unhurt ; but all except these were burn- 
ed by the communication of fire from the burning stores. 
Sixty dwelling houses and eighty-four stores were reduced to 
ashes. The loss which the Americans sustained by the de- 
struction of naval stores, of provisions, and merchandize, 
was immense. General Arnold having completed the object 
of the expedition, returned in eight days to New York. 

At the close of the war, he accompanied the royal army to 
England. "The contempt that followed him through life," 
says a late elegant writer, "is further illustrated by the 
speech of the present lord Lauderdale, who, perceiving Ar- 
nold on the right hand of the king, and near his person, as 
he addressed his parliament, declared, on his return to the 
commons, that, however gracious the language he had heard 
from the throne, his indignation could not but be highly ex- 
cited, at beholding as he had done, his majesty supported by 
a traitor." "And on another occasion. Lord Surry, since 
duke of Norfolk, rising to speak in the house of commons, 
and perceiving Arnold in the gallery, sat down with precipi- 
tation, exclaiming, * I will not speak while that man, pointing 
to him, is in the house.' 

As the treason and treachery of Arnold, and the capture of 
Andre, by three American militia men, excited great interest 
and feeling, from the circumstance that Arnold was the only 
instance of an American officer basely turning against his coun- 
try in that doubtful contest, and the contrast so striking, be 



Sfc BARNEY. 

tween Arnold and those virtuous private soldiers, we deem it 
proper to refer to the journals of the old congress, for authen- 
tic facts, in relation to this most important transaction. 

On the 30th September, 17S0, we find in the journals, 
the following facts connected with this affair: "A letter, 
of the 26th, from general Washington, was read, confirming 
the account given in the letter of the 25th, from major general 
Greene, of the treasonable practices of major general Bene- 
dict Arnold, and his desertion to the enemy. On the 4th Oc- 
tober, 1780, congress adopted the following resolution: Re- 
solved. That the board of war be, and hereby are directed to 
erase from the register of the names of the officers of the army 
of the United States, the name of Benedict Arnold." 

BARNEY, JOSHUA, was born in Baltimore, in the state 
of Maryland, on the 6th of July, 1759. His parents lived on 
a farm between the town and North Point, where he was sent 
to school until ten years of age, by which time he had learned 
all his master could teach, reading, writing, and arithmetic. 
He was then put into a retail store at Alexandria: but soon 
became tired of that occupation. In 1771, he came to Balti- 
more on a visit, and insisted on going to sea, which he air- 
ways had an inclination for. He went out in a pilot boat with 
a friend of his father, for several months. He was then 
bound an apprentice to captain Thomas Drisdale, and sailed 
with him in a brig to Ireland. They arrived at the cove of 
Cork, after a rough passage, where they remained two days, 
and then proceeded to Liverpool. The vessel being sold, 
young Barney returned home by the way of Dublin. Shortly 
after his return his father died, having been shot by the acci- 
dental discharge of a pistol in the hands of a brother, a child 
of seven years of age. He made a voyage to Cadiz and 
Genoa, and in 1775, sailed for Italy. The captain being 
sick, and the mate having been discharged, the whole duty 
fell on young Barney, although not 16 years of age. In July, 
1775, he repaired to Alicant, at the time the Spaniards were 
preparing an expedition against Algiers. His ship was taken 
in the transport service. The expedition failed, and lie re- 
turned to America. On his arrival in the Chesapeake Bay, 
the 1st of October, 1776, his vessel Avas boarded by the sloop 
of war King Fisher, and informed of the battle of Bunker's 
Hill. The ship was searched, and all the loiters and arms 
were taken from her. On arriving in Baltimore, the ship was 
(aid up. Thus he had been a captain eight months, ami had 
gone through some very difficult scenes. He was only a little 
over 16 years of age. At this period, finding the whole coun- 
try had taken up arms against the injustice of England, his 
In-east soon caught the flame. He obtained the situation of 



BARNEY. 39 

master's Mi ate in the sloop Hornet, commanded by captain 
William Stone, and on receiving a flag from commodore Hop- 
kins, he placed it on a staff, and with drums and fifes beat up 
for volunteers, and in one day engaged a crew for their vessel. 
This was the first flag of the United States seen in the state 
of Maryland, and Barney claimed some credit for carrying it. 
In November, 1775, they sailed in company with the schooner 
Wasp, to join commodore Hopkins in the Delaware, where 
they arrived in a few days, passing the enemy's squadron, 
which was lying in Hampton roads. The American fleet 
consisted of two frigates, two brigs, and four sloops. They 
sailed to New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands. The 
town and fort surrendered, with the ships and vessels in the 
harbour, without resistance. The cannon, powder, mortars, 
shells, &c. were secured, and the island given up again. On 
their return they had bad weather, but they got into the Dela- 
ware with some difficulty. 

In 1776, Barney embarked in the schooner Wasp, under 
the orders of captain Charles Alexander, a brave Scotchman, 
and they convoyed off the coast the vessel in which Dr. 
Franklin was going to Europe. The Wasp returned into 
Cape May channel with great hazard, as the English ships 
Roebuck of forty-four guns, and Liverpool of twenty-eight 
guns, lay in the roads. As the Wasp returned up the bay she 
was chased by the Roebuck and Liverpool, but she got into 
Wilmington creek. The next morning several row gallies 
went down from Philadelphia, under commodore Hazlewood, 
and attacked the British ships. The captain of the Wasp 
took advantage of the cannonade to come out, and he attacked 
and took the brig Tender, from the British, although under the 
guns of the enemy. The Americans took her into a port of New 
Jersey. This little affair was thought a bold one ; but they 
had afterwards harder fighting, for getting under the enemy's 
guns in a fog, they with difficulty succeeded in joining the 
galleys, which fought all day. Barney joined one of the ves- 
sels which wanted hands, and had his share of fighting. He 
was now sent on board the sloop Sachem, then fitting out, as 
commanding officer, and he was complimented for his con- 
duct on tiie Delaware, by Robert Morris, president of the 
Marine Committee, who presented him with a lieutenant's 
commission. He was not seventeen years of age. In this capa- 
city he sailed in the Sachem under captain Isaiah Robinson, 
and they had not been long out, when they captured an En- 
glish brig, after a severe action of two hours. A large turtle 
on board, intended for Lord North, was presented to Mr. 
Morris, after young Barney brought the prize into port. 
The Sachem and Andrew Doria. of fourteen guns, with th* 



40 BARNEY. 

Lexington, captain Barry, departed for the West Indies, 
On their return, they captured a sloop of twelve guns, afler 
an action of two hours, cutting her to pieces. It was the 
sloop Race Horse, tender to admiral Parker's fleet at Ja- 
maica, sent to take the Sachem and Andrew Doria. The 
next prize was a Snow from Jamaica, on board which Barney 
was sent as prize master. His difficulties began here, for 
being several days in a heavy gale of wind, and the sea 
breaking over the vessel so as to oblige them to stay in the 
tops, he was captured by the Perseus of twenty guns. Being 
ill treated by the purser of the Perseus, Barney knocked him 
down the hatchway, which met the approbation of the captain 
of the British vessel, who exchanged his prisoners at Charles- 
ton, South Carolina. On their way to Philadelphia on horse- 
back, Barney and his companions annoyed the tories when- 
ever they found an opportunity, making them drink success 
to Congress, &c. 

In the spring of 1777, Barney again joined the Andrew 
Doria, and took part in the defence of the Delaware. The 
American force consisted of the Delaware frigate of thirty-two 
guns, and several small vessels, all under commodore Hazle- 
wood. They were stationed at Mud Island or fort Mifflin, 
which was commanded by lieutenant colonel Samuel Smith, 
at present a member of the senate of the United States, from 
Maryland. All the summer the war was carried on with 
great rigour in the neighborhood; but in the fall the fort was 
necessarily given up, and the fleet destroyed. Barney was 
ordered to Baltimore to join the Virginia frigate, captain 
Nicholson. In attempting to get the frigate to sea, the pilot 
ran her on shore in the night, and was captured by the British. 
In August, 1778, Barney was exchanged for the lieutenant of 
the Mermaid frigate, but on going to Baltimore, where he 
took command of a schooner with two guns and eight men. he 
was again taken in the bay by a privateer of four large guns 
and sixty men. The United States, at this time, having no 
vessels out of the middle states, Barney accepted the offer of 
his old friend and commander, captain Robinson, in Novem- 
ber, 1778, to go out with him from Alexandria in a ship, with 
a letter of marque. She had twelve guns, but little powder, 
and only thirty-five men. When three days out, in the night, 
they fell in with the privateer Rosebud, captain Duncan, full 
of men, with which they had a running fight all night, killed 
and wounded forty-seven of their men, and got off with only 
one man wounded. They arrived at Bordeaux, took a cargo 
of brandy, mounted eighteen guns, and shipped seventy men. 
On their return, they made a valuable prize, after a running 



BARNEY. 41 

light of near two days. Barney took command of the prize, 
and arrived safe in Philadelphia, in October, 1779. 

In 1780, he married a most estimable woman, the daughter 
of alderman Bedford. The following month he proceeded to 
Baltimore, having all his fortune with him in paper money, in 
his gig-box ; on arriving he found he had been robbed of every 
cent he had in the world. He returned to Philadelphia with* 
Out mentioning his loss, and soon after went into service on 
board the United States ship Saratoga, of sixteen guns, com- 
manded by captain John Young. In a few days after going 
to sea, they captured a ship of twelve guns. Soon after they 
took a ship mounting thirty-two guns, ninety men, and two 
brigs, having boarded the first running up under English co- 
lours. Barney was afterwards taken by the intrepid, 74* 
captain Malloy, who treated his prisoners with great bar- 
barity. In 1780, Barney and seventy other prisoners, at New 
York, were sent on board the Yarmouth, 74, and ordered to 
England by admiral Rodney. They were confined under 
five decks, in a place three feet high, twelve feet long, and 
twenty feet wide, without light, and were fifty -three days on 
the passage. Eleven died from the filth and the fever getting 
among them, and whert they landed at Plymouth, the survi-* 
vors were very feeble and emaciated, covered with vermin, 
and so weak they could hardly stand, or their eyes bear the 
light. After remaining some time in a prison ship, they were 
sent to Mill prison, where they found between two and three 
hundred other rebels, as they were called. They gave their 
jailors a good deal of trouble, by digging, undermining, cut- 
ting bars, &c. and some escaped. Barney was suspected, 
and was put in the dungeon thirty days* loaded with heavy 
irons. By the assistance of a soldier who had been in Ame- 
rica, on the 18th May, 1781, he escaped in an English offi- 
cer's undress uniform. After being taken, he again escaped, 
and went to Bristol and London. He also visited Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam, and the Hague. He arrived in Philadelphia in 
March following, after an absence of nineteen months. When 
a few days in the bosom of his family, the state of Pennsyl- 
vania gave him the command of the Hyder Ally, a small ship 
of sixteen guns, and one hundred and ten men. Thirteen 
days after, he proceeded with a convoy down the bay, and 
was laying in Cape May road, waiting for a wind. The fol- 
lowing are the particulars of the action between the Hyder 
Ally, captain Barney, and the general Monk, captain Rogers, 
furnished by a gentleman well acquainted with the par- 
ticulars : 

April 8th, 1782, at 10, A. M. laying at anchor under Cape 
May, (Delaware) discovered three sail standing in from sea. 

6 



42 BARNEY. 

with a light wind from the eastward; at 11 perceived tna$ 
they were a frigate, a ship, a sloop of war, and an armed 
brig. At meridian, the frigate stood for Cape Henlopen 
channel, the ship and brig standing in for Cape May; made 
a signal for our convoy to get under weigh, and stand up the 
bay; we then got under 'weigh, and followed the convoy. At 
1, P. M. the ship and brig came into the bay, by Cape May 
channel, the frigate coming round under Cape Henlopen; 
prepared for action, all hands to quarters. At three quarter* 
past one, the brig passed us, after giving us two fires; we 
reserved our fire for the ship, then fast coming up; we re- 
ceived very little damage from the brig. v\ho stood after our 
convoy ; she mounted sixteen guns, and was formerly the 
American privateer "Fair American," commanded by cap- 
tain Decatur, and equal to us in force. At 2, P. M. the ship 
ranged up on our starboard quarter, and fired two guns at us ; 
we were then at good pistol shot; we then attempted to run 
her on board, by laying her across the starboard bow, but our 
yard arms locked, which kept us too far off to board ; at the 
same time poured in our broadside from great guns and small 
arms. Our fire was briskly kept up for twenty-six minutes, 
when she struck her colours. Immediately sent our first lieu- 
tenant on board, and stood up the bay, the frigate at this time 
under a press of sail in chase after us, and the brig ahead in 
chase of our convoy ; again prepared for action, and stood af- 
ter the brig, but on her perceiving that the ship had struck, 
she stood for the frigate, and got aground ; we were obliged 
to pass her, as the frigate gained upon us. At 4, P. M. the 
frigate came to anchor in the bay, (supposed for want of a 
pilot.) We then spoke the prise for the first time, and learned 
she was His Majesty's ship the General Monk, captain Rod- 
gers, of nineteen nine pounders, but fighting twenty guns, and 
had on board, when the action began, one hundred and thirty- 
six men, of whom thirty were killed, and fifty-three wounded. 
Of sixteen officers on board, fifteen were killed or wounded. 
The captain received three wounds. We bad on board the 
Hyder ATly four killed, and eleven wounded. The Hyder 
Ally mounted twelve six pounders, and four nine pounders, 
with a complement of one hundred and fifteen men. During 
the action we fired thirteen broadsides from our cannon, and 
from sixty to seventy rounds from our muskets. Proportion 
of metal: The General Monk, ten nine pounders, fired ninety 
weight of shot at one broadside. The Hyder Ally, six 
sixes, and two nines, fired fifty-four weight of shot at one 
broadside. Proportion — fifty to ninety. On arriving at Phi- 
ladelphia with the prize, the wounded had every care" taken of 
them. The Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him a sword for 
this gallant exploit, which was presented him by the governor. 



BARNEY. 43 

A gentleman who was on board the vessels after their ar- 
rival at Philadelphia, gives the following particulars : 

'I was then in Philadelphia, quite a lad, when the action took 
place. Both ships arrived at the lower part of the city with 
a leading wind, immediately after the action, bringing with 
them all their killed and wounded. Attracted to the wharf 
by the salute which the Hyder Ally fired, of thirteen guns, 
which was then the custom, (one for each state) I saw the two 
ships lying in the stream, anchored near each other. In a 
short time, however, they warped into the wharf to land their 
killed and wounded, and curiosity induced me, as well as 
many others, to go on board each vessel The Hyder Ally was, 
as stated, a small ship of sixteen six pounders. The Monk, a 
king's ship of large dimensions, of eighteen ninepounders. The 
difference in the size and equipments of the two ships was 
matter of astonishment to all the beholders. The General 
Monk's decks were, in every direction, besmeared with 
blood, covered with the dead and wounded, and resembled a 
charnel house. Several of her bow ports were knocked into 
one; a plain evidence of the well directed fire of the Hyder 
Ally. She was a king's ship, a very superior vessel, a fast 
sailer, and coppered to the bends. I was on board during the 
time they carried on shore the killed and wounded, which 
they did in hammocks. 

'I was present at a conversation which took place on the 
quarter deck of the General Monk, between captain Barney, 
and several merchants in Philadelphia. I remember one of 
them observing, " Why. captain Barney, you have been truly 
fortunate in capturing this vessel, considering she is so far su- 
perior to you in point of size, guns, men, and metal." Yes, 
sir. he replied, I do consider myself fortunate — when we were 
about to engage, it was the opinion of myself, as well as my 
crew, that she would have blown us to atoms ; but we were de- 
termined she should gain her victory dearly. One of the 
wounded British sailors observed — "Yes, sir, captain Rodgers 
observed to our crew, a little before the action commenced, 
•Now, my boys, we shall have the Yankee ship in five 
minutes-' and so we all thought, but here we are." 

The General Monk was sold and bought by Mr. Morris for 
the United States, and the command given to Barney, who 
sailed with sealed orders in November, 1782, with despatches 
to Dr. Franklin, in Paris. He was well received at the 
French court. He returned to Philadelphia with a valuable 
loan from the French king, a large sum of money in chests of 
gold and barrels of silver, and carried with him a passport 
signed by the king of England, and the information that the 
preliminaries of peace \v«re signed. 



44 BARNEY. 

Thus closed his public career, being among the first to en* 
ter, and the last to quit the service. 

The character of our work will not permit us to give all the in» 
teresting particulars of Barney's life. Suffice to say, great in- 
deed, was the variety of service in which he was engaged in 
the revolutionary war, and as fluctuating his successes and his 
misfortunes. A captive to-day, to-morrow he triumphed in the 
arms of victory : but, in all situations, and under every change, 
however eventful, supported a character of unblemished honour, 
and of an intrepidity that could not be exceeded. 

After the termination of the revolutionary war, he com- 
menced business, and purchased a tract of land in Kentucky, 
which he meant to be a last resort for his family. In 1786, 
87, and 88, he visited South Carolina, Georgia, and the wes- 
tern country, On his return he took an active part in the 
adoption of the constitution. In 1789, finding his health im- 
paired by his services, he embarked for South America, and 
arrived at Carthagena in a small brig belonging to himself 
and partner. Thence he went to HaA anna, and then home. 
In 1792, he sailed again, and arrived at Cape Francois. 
"While there the town was burnt, and he was obliged to fight 
his way. He brought off fifty or sixty miserable women and 
children. His vessel was captured by an English privateer 
brig, two others in company. Three officers and eleven men 
were put on board, and all the Americans taken out, except 
Barney, the carpenter, boatswain and cook. They were or- 
dered for New Providence. The keys of the iron chest were 
demanded, but Barney would not deliver them, which occa- 
sioned much abuse and ill treatment. He had concealed a 
small blunderbuss, and his men some other arms, with which 
they took an opportunity of retaking the ship. Two of the 
English officers were wounded. The men were afterwards 
made to work the ship, until they arrived at Baltimore. Bar- 
ney was compelled, for his own safety, to sleep on the quar- 
ter deck in his arm-chair. He again sailed for Cape Fran- 
cois in 1793 ; on his return, he was again captured by an En- 
glish brig, and taken to Jamaica. When he arrived at Kings- 
ton he was committed to prison, and bills were found against 
him for piracy. His ship and cargo were condemned. Ho 
then returned home, and in 1794, was offered the command of 
a frigate, but declined the offer. After this he accompanied 
Mr. Monroe, now President of the United States, to France, 
and was the bearer of the American flag to the National Con- 
vention. He received the embrace of the President of the 
Convention, and a vote was passed that he should be employ- 
ed in the navy of the Republic. He declined at that time, 
but in 1795, accepted a commission as captain. In 1796. h<j 



BARNEY. 45 

Arrived at Norfolk with two frigates. An English squadron 
blockaded him for a considerable time. He offered to go out 
and fight an equal force, but the English declined. By de- 
ceiving the British, he made his escape, and returned to 
France. In 1800, he left the French service, and returned to 
America. In 1805, he was offered the superintendance of the 
Navy Yard at Washington, but declined. In 1 806, he offer- 
ed for Congress, but was defeated. In 1808, he offered for 
Congress, and was again defeated, through the machinations 
of his enemies. 

In 1812, he had removed into the country, on Elkridge, and 
in June, when war was declared against Great Britain, he 
offered his services to the general government, and at the 
same time engaged in a fine schooner to make a cruise priva- 
vateering. He was very successful, having captured eighteen 
sail, most of which were burnt or sunk; several of them were 
of greater force than the privateer, and fought hard. In July, 
1813, when at Newport, Rhode Island, attending the sale of 
some prizes, he received an offer of the command of the flotil- 
la for the defence of the Chesapeake. On his proceeding to 
Washington, he found his old enemies had written letters to 
the Secretary of the Navy, insulting to bis feelings, which he 
resented by calling out the w liter, a merchant of Baltimore, 
who, in the affair, had a bullet through his breast; which, how- 
ever, he survived. In the spring of 1814, the flotilla consist- 
ed of twenty six barges and nine hundred men, with which the 
commodore proceeded down the bay, intending to attack the 
enemy's black establishment, at Tangier Island: but falling 
in with their squadron off the Patuxent, lie was obliged to run 
in there. During the summer, they kept up an active war- 
fare with the enemy, attacking them whenever he had an op» 
portunity, in some instances lying under the fire of the fri- 
gates for several hours. He destroyed several of their small 
craft, and men, besides injuring their large vessels, when his 
shot would reach them. On the first of July, the commodore 
was ordered to Washington, to consult about the expected in- 
vasion, and the means of defending the capital. He returned 
to the flotilla on the third, and removed higher up the river. 
On the sixteenth of August, the enemy entered the Patuxent, 
and an express was forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy. 
The commodore landed most of his men, and inarched them 
towards Washington on the twenty first, and joined General 
Winder at the Woodyard, where he found captain Miller, and 
his marines, with five pieces of artillery, which were placed 
under his command. On the 2Srd the troops were reviewed by 
the President. The enemy, the next day, were within three 
miles of the camp, and some skirmishing took place. The 



46 BARNEY. 

commodore proceeded with his force to the city, crossed the 
Eastern branch, and put up that night in the marine barracks, 
with orders to protect the bridge. 

At about 11, A. M. of the 24th, hearing the enemy had 
proceeded on to Bladcnsburg, and meeting the President, &c. 
he begged to be allowed to quit the bridge, and join the army, 
which was allowed, and he immediately set out for Bladcns- 
burg, with his guns and his men. Within a mile of that 
town, he found the army drawn up in detached parties, and 
the engagement had began. His men came up at a trot, the 
weather excessively hot. They had hardly time to take 
the limbers from the guns and form, when he perceived our 
army in full retreat, and the enemy advancing. He was in 
hopes the first line would again form near him. but was dis- 
appointed. At length the enemy appeared, and he gave or- 
ders to wait until they were near enough. He pointed the guns 
and remounted. The enemy tried their rockets, and then ad- 
vanced. They received a fire of round and grape shot, which 
cleared the road ; grape and canister cleared it a second time; 
they then left the road and took to the field in front and on 
the right. They were met there by the marines and sailors with 
muskets, and the cannon with grape and canister. Colonel 
Thornton, colonel Woods, and several officers of the enemy, 
fell in the charge. The American army by this time, had to 
a man disappeared ; the commodore, however, kept up his 
fire. The English sharp-shooters had straggled about, and 
were doing much mischief; Barney's horse fell between 
two of his guns, pierced by two balls ; several of his officers 
were killed and wounded: the ammunition wagon had gone 
off in the general confusion and retreat of the army ; the 
enemy began to flank out to the right, under cover of a thick 
wood, and had nearly surrounded the commodore. His men 
were nearly exhausted, having undergone a three day's march 
without a regular supply of provisions. He had received a 
wound in the thigh some time before, and was faint for loss 
of blood, when he ordered a retreat, which was effected in 
good order, by the men and such officers as could follow. He 
retired a few yards, with the help of three of his officers, 

whom he ordered away, except captain H — , and fell 

from weakness ; in which situation he was found by the enemy. 
General Ross and admiral Cockburn came to him, and, in 
in the most polite manner tendered him every assistance. 
He was carried in a litter to Bladcnsburg. Captain Miller 
was also carried to the same house, badly wounded. Thus 
the battle ended ! On the 26th of August, he found the ene- 
my had retreated, leaving eight} - wounded officers and men. 
The next day, Mrs. Barney, his surgeon, and one of his son? 



BARNEY. 47 

came to Bladensburg, and, after a night's rest, carried him 
home in a carriage and bed brought for that purpose. The 
ball had been probed for by the English surgeons, but without 
effect ; his surgeon was equally unsuccessful, and it was never 
got out. On the 7th October, he was sufficiently recovered 
to proceed to Washington, and was sent with a flag of truce 
to the enemy's fleet in the Chesapeake, to exchange prisoners. 
He calculated the enemy lost in killed, wounded and pri- 
soners, in their attack on Washington, eleven hundred men. 
Our loss did not exceed sixty, fifty of which were marines and 
flotilla men. On the 10th October, he resumed his command. 
The corporation of Washington voted him a sword. He was 
preparing the barges for a spring campaign, when the news 
of peace arrived. The Legislature of Georgia gave the com- 
modore a vote of thanks for his conduct at Washington. On 
the 10th May, he was again sent for by the Secretary of the 
Navy, and requested to undertake a mission to Europe ; and 
he sailed the 25th from Baltimore, arrived at Plymouth, thence 
went to London, and sailed the 9th August from Gravesend ; 
arrived at Baltimore 13th October, but found his wound crip- 
pled him so completely, he was obliged to send his despatches 
by his son. He remained at his farm until his strength was 
renovated; he then removed his family to Baltimore, where he 
remained some months. Finding it necessary to form an es- 
tablishment more independent than the one he now possessed? 
he looked towards Kentucky as the place of final settlement, 
and paid it a visit, carrying out his wife with him. On the 
road he received the most gratifying attentions from all 
classes, and his reception in that hospitable state, was such, 
that he only returned to Maryland to settle his business, and 
pack up his furniture, which, with his wagons, horses, ser- 
vants, and every thing necessary for farming and housekeep- 
ing, he sent ahead, and followed with his family. At Browns- 
town he embarked his baggage in boats, but unfortunately 
the season had been remarkably dry. and he was detained a 
long time on the river. At Pittsburg he had got every thing 
on board, and was ready to sail the next morning, the water 
having risen, when in his boat he was taken ill, the combined 
effect of fatigue, exposure, and the irritation kept up by the 
ball in his thigh, calculated very much to hasten his death. 

He died on the 1st day of December, 1818, in the 60th 
year of his age. It is unnecessary to say his funeral was at- 
tended by a great concourse of people, and received all the 
honours the city of Pittsburg could afford. His family after 
some detention, proceeded on to Kentucky. His widow con- 
tinues to enjoy his pension, and in time may have possession 
»f the ample tract of land purchased in early life. 



4S BARRY, 

BARRY, John> was born in the county of Wexford, Iir^ 
land, in the year 1745. After having received the first ele- 
ments of an English education, to gratify his particular incli- 
nation for the sea, his father entered him in the merchant ser- 
vice. When about fifteen years of age, he arrived in Pennsylva- 
nia, and selected it as the country of his future residence. Ht 
commanded the ship. Black Prince, a valuable vessel belong 
ing to Mr. Nixon, of Philadelphia, when the revolutionary 
war commenced. This ship was immediately purchased by 
Congress, and converted into a vessel of war. Barry very 
promptly took a decided stand in favour of his adopted coun- 
try, and was the first commodore, in the American navy. 

Confiding in his patriotism. Congress, in February, 1776, 
a few months prior to the declaration of Independence, ap- 
pointed him commander of the brig Lexington, of sixteen 
guns, and his was the first Continental vessel, which sailed 
from the port of Philadelphia. His cruises were successful. 
The city of Philadelphia and forts on the Delaware fell into 
the hands of the British, in the year 1777; and commodore 
Barry, with several vessels of war, made good his retreat up 
the river, as far as Whitehill, where, however, they were af- 
terwards destroyed by the enemy. 

Prior to the destruction of these vessels, he successfully em- 
ployed those under his command, in annoying the enemy, and 
cutting off the supplies. 

Whilst he commanded the Lexington, the British chased a 
vessel on shore near Cape May, in sight of the Lexington, 
Surprise, captain Weeks, and the Wasp, captain Barney. 
The boats and men of those vessels were immediately sent to 
her assistance, and they began to land her cargo, consisting 
of small arms, powder, &c. The British kept up a brisk fire, 
and killed captain Weeks. Finding the enemy's ships getting 
near, and preparing to send their boats, captain Barry order- 
ed a quantity of powder turned loose in the hold of the ves-* 
sel, and on leaving her, left a large coal of fire wrapped up 
in the mainsail over the hatchway. When the Americans 
retired, the British had scarcely boarded the vessel, when she 
blew up, with a tremendous explosion ! A great number of 
dead bodies, gold laced hats, &c. afterwards floated on shore. 

After the destruction of the American squadron, and soon 
after the capture of Philadelphia, he was appointed to com- 
mand the Raleigh, of thirty two guns, which, on a cruise, 
was run on shore by a British squadron, on Fox Island, iis 
Penobscot bay. 

Subsequent to the above disasters, he commanded a vessel 
commissioned with letters of marque and reprisal, and engag- 
ed in the West India trade for some time. 



BARRY. 49 

When Congress concluded to build a 74 gun ship in New 
Hampshire, lie was ordered to command her. It was. how- 
ever., afterwards, determined to make a present of this vessel 
to His most Christian Majesty, when that august body gave 
him the command of the Alliance frigate. 

The situation of American affairs becoming important, in 
a foreign point of view, colonel John Laurens, of South Ca- 
rolina, son of Henry Laurens, then a prisoner in the tower of 
London, was ordered to France on a special mission. Com- 
modore Barry sailed in the Alliance from Boston for L'Ori- 
cnt, in February, 1781, having the minister extraordinary 
and suite on board. After landing the ambassador and suite 
at L'Oricnt, in the early part of the same year, the Alliance 
sailed on a cruise. 

On the 29th of May, following, at day-light. Commodore 
Barry discovered a ship and a brig on his weather bow, ap- 
pearing afterwards to wear the British flag. He consequent- 
ly prepared for immediate action. The British ship proved 
to be the Atalanta, captain Edwards, of between twenty and 
thirty guns, and the brig Treposa, captain Smith. An action 
shortly commenced, and by three P. M. both vessels struck. 
Barry was wounded early in the engagement; but notwith- 
standing his sufferings, in consequence of this casualty, he 
still remained on deck, and it was owing to his intrepidity 
and presence of mind, that the Alliance was the victor. 

On December 25, 1781, he sailed in the Alliance for France, 
from Boston, having on board the Marquis de la Fayette and 
Count de Noailles, who were desirous of going to their native 
country on business of the highest importance. He had scarce- 
ly arrived at his destined port (L'Orient,) than he sailed in 
February, 1782, on a cruise, during which he fell in with an 
enemy's ship of equal size, and had a severe engagement. 
The enemy would have been captured, had it not been for two 
consorts, which, however, were kept at a distance during the 
action by a French fifty gun ship, which hove in sight. The 
continental ship Luzerne, of twenty guns, had her guns thrown 
overboard before the battle began, in order to facilitate her 
escape, as she had a quantity of specie on board from Havan* 
na. for the use of the United States. The captain of the Bri- 
tish frigate, who was soon after advanced to be vice-admiral 
of the red, acknowledged, that he had never received a more 
severe flagellation than on this occasion, although it seemed 
to have had the appearance of a drawn battle. 

It is said that the British frigate had thirty-seven killed 
and fifty wounded, in this action, and that captain Barry's 
loss amounted to three killed and eleven wounded. 

During the time that general Lord Howe was the British 



5» 13ARTLETT. 

commander in chief, he attempted to alienate the commodore 
from the cause which he had so ardently espoused, by an offer 
of twenty thousand guineas, and the command of the best 
frigate in the British navy; but he rejected the offer with 
scorn. The return of peace, however, in the year 1783, put 
an end to all such dishonorable propositions, and our com- 
modore returned to private life. 

When our disturbances took place with the French Repub- 
lic, he commanded the frigate United States, now in service, 
and was very successful on the West India station. 

Bold, brave, and enterprising, he was. at the same time, hu- 
mane and generous. He was a good citizen, and greatly es- 
teemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His 
person was above the ordinary size, graceful and command- 
ing; his deportment dignified, and his countenance expressive. 
He had the art of commanding without supercilious haugh- 
tiness, or wanton severity. Another trait in his character 
was a punctilious observance of the duties of religion. 

He died in Philadelphia, on the 30th of September, 1805, 
and a vast concourse of his fellow-citizens testified their res- 
pect to his memory, by attending his remains to the silent 
grave. 

BARTLETT, Josiah, Governor of New Hampshire, was 
born at Amesbury, in the county of Essex, Massachusetts, 
2 1st November, 1729. His ancestors came from the south of 
England, and fixed at Newbury. The rudiments of his edu- 
cation he received at Amesbury, at the town school : and hav- 
ing a thirst for knowledge, he applied himself to books in va- 
rious languages, in which he was assisted by a neighbouring 
clergyman, the reverend Mr. Webster, of Salisbury, an ex- 
cellent scholar as well as judicious divine. Mr. Bartlett hi'ji 
the benefit of his library and conversation, while be studied 
physic with a gentleman, who was a practitioner in his native 
town. At the age of twenty-one, he began the practice of 
physic in Kingston, and soon became very eminent in the line 
of his profession. In 1764, a field was opened for the useful 
display of his skill. The cynanche maligna became very pre- 
valent in many towns of New Hampshire, and was a fatal 
disease among children. The method of treating it was as a 
highly philogistic complaint ; but he was led from his own 
reason and observations, to manage it differently. He made 
use of the Peruvian bark, as an antidote and preventative, and 
his practice was successful. This afterwards become general 
among physicians. 

In 1765, Dr. Bartlett was chosen a member of the legisla- 
ture, and from this time was annually elected till the revolu- 
tion. In 1770, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 7th 



BARTLETT. 51 

regiment of militia. This commission he was deprived of 
in 1774, on account of the active part he took in the contro- 
versy with great Britain. This was a time when "the clash- 
ing of parties ex< ited strong passions, which frequently gain- 
ed the mastery of reason." The governor and council of New 
Hampshire, saw fit to dissolve the house of Assembly, sup- 
posing that a new one might become more flexible, or be more 
subservient to their wishes. In the meanwhile, colonel Bart- 
lett. with several others, planned a kind of authority, which 
was called a committee of safety. They met at Exeter, and 
in the course of events, were obliged to take upon themselves 
the whole executive government of the state. When a pro- 
vincial congress had again organized the government, colonel 
Bartlctt received a new appointment as justice of the peace, 
and colonel of the 7th rcg;aient. 

He was one of the first members who were chosen to repre- 
sent the state in Congress. Colonel Bartlett was prevented 
from accepting this honourable trust by the unhappy condition 
of his domestic affairs ; his house having been burnt, his fa- 
mily were obliged to seek a shelter without any thing but the 
clothes they had upon them. He was elected member of the 
second congress which assembled at Philadelphia the next 
year, and also attended his duty in the same station, 1776. 
He was the first that signed the declaration of independence 
after the president. 

In 1777, colonel Bartlett and general Peabody, were ap- 
pointed agents to provide medical aid and other necessaries 
for the New Hampshire troops, who went with general Stark, 
and for this purpose repaired to Bennington, a spot distin- 
guished by a battle very important in its consequences. In 
April, 1778, he again went as a delegate to Congress. He 
returned in November, and would no longer appear as a can- 
didate for that office. 

When the state of New Hampshire was organized, under a 
popular government, colonel Bartlett was appointed judge of 
the common pleas ; in June, 1782, a judge of the supreme 
court; and in 1788, chief justice. 

In June, 1790, he was elected president of the state, which 
office he held till the constitution abrogated the office of presi- 
dent, and substituted the title of the chief magistrate, go- 
vernor. He was then chosen the first governor of New 
Hampshire since the revolution. He resigned the chair in 1 794, 
on account of his infirm state of health, and then retired from 
public business. 

He had been the chief agent in forming the medical society 
of New Hampshire, which was incorporated in 1791, of which 
he was president, till his public labours ceased, and when he 



03 BEATTV. 

resigned, he received a warm acknowledgement of his ser- 
vices and patronage, in a letter of thanks, winch is now upon 
the records of the society. lie was always a patron of learn- 
ing, and a friend to learned men. Without the advantages of 
a college education, he was an example to stimulate those who 
have heen blessed with every advantage in early life ; but 
cannot exhibit such improvement of their talents, or such ex- 
ertions in the cause of literature. It was his opinion, that re- 
publics cannot exist without knowledge and virtue in the 
people. 

He received an honorary degree of doctor of medicine from 
Dartmouth University. 

Governor Bartlett did not live long after lie resigned his 
public employments. His health had been declining a num- 
ber of years. He died suddenly, May, 1795. 

BEATTY, William, was born in Fredrick county, in the 
state of Maryland, on the 19th of June, 1758. He was the 
eldest of twelve sons. In stature he was erect and stately, and 
in person vigorous and athletic ; capable of enduring the 
greatest fatigue, and of suffering the utmost privation. His 
attachments were warm and permanent; his feelings glowing 
and enthusiastic, and his patriotism ardent and almost roman- 
tic. To a mind thus constituted, the "tented field" would 
necessarily present charms not easily resisted, and when in 
connection with this, an opportunity was offered for the indul- 
gence of his ruling passion, it may readily be conceived that 
he would not be among the last to rush to the standard of his 
country, and offer his services in the defence of its liberties 
and its rights. 

It is to be regretted, that the materials for the biography 
of men, even of the most distinguished reputation, are often 
found so scanty and limited. When an individual has risen 
by intellectual or moral excellence, above the ordinary level 
of society, and becomes known to fame, the world feels an in- 
terest in every thing that concerns him, even to the most mi- 
nute event of his life ; and nothing is deemed tedious or un- 
important, which serves to dcvclope his character or to unfold 
the secret operations of his mind, or the latent feelings of his 
heart. On this aceount, therefore, auto-biographies arc the. 
most interesting, and perhaps the most useful ; because the 
information we receive is derived immediately from the indi- 
vidual himself, who lays before the world the incidents and 
events of his life, with the full knowledge of the motives and 
feelings, and causes that led to them, which no stranger could 
30 well understand, or so feelingly delineate. 

Of the patriots of the Revolution, there are but few, for 
whose lives materials sufficiently abundant and circumstantial 



BEATTY. 53 

have been left ; and of the lives of those, who, though less 
die nguished, were perhaps not less meritorious officers, it is 
difficult at this remote period to procure more than a bare and 
meagre outline, Such is the fact in relation to the subject of 
this brief memoir. 

In 1776, when but eighteen years of age, he obtained the 
appointment of ensign in colonel Griffith's regiment, in what 
was termed the "flying camp" of Maryland This regiment, 
which was hastily raised in the early part of the summer, and. 
was to serve until the 1st of December following, received or- 
ders to march in July, to the city of New York, which it 
reached without accident, and thence proceeded immediately 
to head quarters on York island. The regiment to which 
young Beatty was attached, continued, during the campaign, 
under the command of general Washington, and at the expi- 
ration of his period of service, he returned to his native state. 
He did not, however, remain long in this state of inglorious 
inaction, a condition which ill-suited his young and ardent 
mind ; for in a short time he was appointed a lieutenant in 
the Maryland line of continental troops, and spent the winter 
in raising recruits for the regiment to which he belonged. In 
the discharge of this unpleasant and difficult duty, he acquit- 
ted himself with much credit, and in the following spring 
joined the army at Middlebrook, in New Jersey. 

His merit, as an officer, was soon discovered by the com- 
mander in chief, and he was promoted to a captaincy in the 
1st Maryland regiment, which had the honour of being for 
some time under general Washington's immediate command. 
The first regiment, however, under the command of colonel 
Gunby, to which captain Beatty was transferred, and of 
which he was now the senior captain, was finally ordered to 
join the southern division of the American army in the Caro- 
linas. and to co-operate with the force there, in resisting the 
progress of the enemy. The distinguished feats of this divi- 
sion are familiar to every American, and must be peculiarly 
gratifying to the people of Maryland, whose troops bore so 
conspicuous a part in that contest, especially the 1st regiment, 
which, according to Marshall, **■ gained the battle of Cowpens, 
and was pre-eminently distinguished in the retreat through 
North Carolina, and at the battle of Guilford." In this last 
battle, which was fought on the 15th of March, 1781, young 
Beatty signalized himself in a particular manner, by engaging 
in single combat a gallant British soldier, whom he pierced 
to the heart with his espontoon. This brave regiment to 
whose valour the glory of the day must be partly attributed, 
•sustained its high character for courage and discipline, and 
acquired a reputation that never will be lost. " At the same 



54 BEATTY. 

instant," says Johnson, in his life of Greene, " Howard (who 
now commanded this regiment, Gunby having been unhorsed) 
rushed upon them, the British, from the left, and the battle 
was literally fought hand to hand. It was a contest not only 
for victory, but reputation, Officers and soldiers equally va- 
lued themselves as the Jovians and Herculians of the two 
armies : nor were the incidents of it destitute of the features 
of chivalry and romance." Young Beatty rose high in the 
estimation of his superior officers, and of the army. His con- 
duct had been such as to merit and receive no ordinary praise, 
and his patriotism and personal courage promised, at no great 
length of time, to elevate him to high rank in the army of his 
country. But fortune is not always propitious to the brave. 
His brilliant career was destined soon to be brought to a close; 
but the laurels he had won were doomed to acquire a fresher 
bloom and a richer verdure by the manner of his death. At 
the battle of Hobkick's hill, near Camden, which was fought 
on the 25th of April, in the same year, captain Beatty, while 
gallantly leading on the right company of the first Maryland 
regiment, received a mortal wound, and died, as he had al- 
ways wished to die, in the lap of glory. Thus fell this brave 
and promising young officer, in the twenty-third year of his 
age, who has been emphatically termed by judge Johnson, 
" the delight of his command; 1 " who was indeed the pride of 
his regiment, and of the army, and whose untimely death was 
universally lamented by a grateful and magnanimous nation. 

General Lee. in his memoirs of the war in the southern de- 
partment, speaking of this battle, says, "The British lost 
no officer of distinction, which was not the case with us. The 
wound of lieutenant colonel Ford proved mortal, and captain 
Beatty, of the first Maryland, was killed, than whom the 
army did not possess an officer of more promise." 

Colonel John E. Howard, who had a distinguished com- 
mand to the south, and whose meritorious services are so well 
known, and recorded in all the histories of the Revolutionary 
War, does justice to the gallantry of captain Beatty, in the 
following extract of a letter to William B. Rochester, Esq. 
member of Congress from New York. 

" Baltimore. Fcbrnarij 18, 1 81 S. 

"It would give me much pleasure to add my testimony to 
that of general Greene and others, of the great merit of cap- 
tain William Beatty. Indeed, the general in few words lias 
so strongly portrayed his character, that little can be added. 

"Extract from the letter of general Greene to Congress: 
* Among the killed is captain Beatty of the Maryland line, 
one of the best of officers, and an ornament to his pro- 
fession.' 



BIDDLE. 55 

Judge Johnson, in his Life of general Greene, says, « The 
first symptom of confusion was exhibited by the commence- 
ment of a firing, contrary to orders. This was scarcely sup- 
pressed, when captain Beatty, who led the right company of 
the first Maryland regiment, and who was the delight of his 
command, fell, pierced to the heart. Captain Beatty was un- 
der my command." 

BIDDLE, Nicholas, captain in the American navy, du- 
ring the Revolutionary War, was born in the city of Philadel- 
phia, in the year 1750. Among the brave men, who perished 
in the glorious struggle for the independence of America, cap- 
tain Biddle holds a distinguished rank. His services, and 
the high expectations raised by his military genius and gal- 
lantry, have left a strong impression of his merit, and a pro- 
found regret that his early fate should have disappointed, so 
soon, the hopes of his country. 

Very early in life he manifested a partiality for the sea, and 
before the age of fourteen, he had made a voyage to Quebec. 
In the following year, 1765, he sailed from Philadelphia to 
Jamaica, and the Bay of Honduras. The vessel left the Bay 
in the latter end of December, 1765, bound to Antigua, and 
on the 2d day of January, in a heavy gale of wind, she was 
cast away on a shoal, called the Northern Triangles. After 
remaining two nights and a day upon the wreck, the crew 
took to their yawl, the long-boat having been lost, and with 
great difficulty and hazard, landed on one of the small unin- 
habited islands, about three leagues distant from the reef 
upon which they struck. Here they staid a few days. Some 
provisions were procured from the wreck, and their boat was 
refitted. As it was too small to carry them all off, they drew 
lots to determine who should remain, and young Biddle was 
among the number. He, and his three companions, suffered 
extreme hardships for the want of provisions 'and good water; 
and, although various efforts were made for their relief, it was 
nearly two months before they succeeded. 

Such a scene of dangers and sufferings in the commence-' 
ment of his career, would have discouraged a youth of ordi- 
nary enterprise and perseverance. On him it produced no 
such effect. The coolness and promptitude with which he 
acted, in the midst of perils that alarmed the oldest seamen, 
gave a sure presage of the force of his character, and after he 
had returned home, he made several European voyages, in 
which he acquired a thorough knowledge of seamanship. 

In the year 1770, when a war between Great Britain and 
Spain was expected, in consequence of the dispute relative to 
Falkland's Island, he went to London, in order to enter into 
the British navy. He took with him letters of recommenda- 



56 BIDDLE. 

tion from Thomas Willing, Esquire, to his brother-in-law 
captain Sterling, on board of whose ship he served for some 
time as a midshipman. The dispute with Spain being ac- 
commodated, he intended to leave the navy, but was persuaded 
by captain Sterling to remain in the service, promising that 
he would use all his interest to get him promoted. His ar- 
dent mind, however, could not rest satisfied with the inactivity 
©f his situation, which he was impatient to change for one 
more suited to his disposition. 

In the year 1773, a voyage of discovery was undertaken, 
at the request of the Royal Society, in order to ascertain how 
far navigation was practicable towards the North Pole, to ad- 
vance the discovery of a north-west passage into the south 
seas, and to make such astronomical observations as might 
prove serviceable to navigation. 

Two vessels ; the Race Horse and Carcase, were fitted out 
for the expedition, the command of which was given to cap- 
tain Phipps, afterwards lord Mulgrave. The peculiar* ('an- 
gers to which such an undertaking was exposed induced the 
government to take extraordinary precautions in fitting out, 
and preparing the vessels, and selecting the crews, and a 
positive order was issued that no boys should be received on 
board. 

To the bold and enterprising spirit of young Biddle. such 
an expedition had great attractions. Extremely anxious to 
join it, he endeavoured to procure captain Sterling's permis- 
sion for that purpose, but he was unwilling to part with him, 
and would not consent to let him go. The temptation was, 
however, irresistible. He resolved to go, and laying aside 
his uniform, he entered on board the Carcase before the mast. 
When he first went on board, he was observed by a seaman 
who had known him before, and was verv much attache; to 
him. The honest fellow, thinking that he must have been 
degraded, and turned before the mast in disgrace, was greatly 
affected at seeing him, but he was equally surprised ami plea- 
sed when he learned the true cause of the young officer's dis- 
guise, and he kept his secret as he was requested to do. Im- 
pelled by the same spirit, young Horatio, afterwards lord Nel- 
son, had solicited and obtained permission to enter on board 
the same vessel. These youthful adventurers are both said to 
have been appointed cockswains, a station always assigned to 
the most active and trusty seaman. The particulars of this 
expedition are well known to the public. These intrepid na- 
vigators penetrated as far as the latitude of eighty-one degrees 
and thirty-nine minutes, and they were at one time, em losed 
with mountains of ice, and their vessels rendered almost im- 
moveable for five days, at the hazard of instant destruction. 



BIDDLE. 5f 

Captain Biddle kept a journal of his voyage, which was af- 
terwards lost with him. 

The commencement of the revolution gave a new turn to 
his pursuits, and he repaired, without delay, to the standard 
of his country. When a rupture between England and 
America appeared inevitable, he returned to Philadelphia, and 
soon after his arrival, be was appointed to the command of the 
Camden galley, fitted for the defence of the Delaware. He 
found this too inactive a service, and when the fleet was pre- 
paring, under commodore Hopkins, for an expedition against 
New Providence, he applied for a command in the fleet and 
was immediately appointed commander of the Andrew Doriay 
a brig of fourteen guns, and one hundred and thirty men. 
Paul Jones, who was then a lieutenant, and was going on the 
expedition, was distinguished by captain Biddle, and intro- 
duced to his friends as an oilicer of merit. 

Before he sailed from the capes of Delaware, an incident 
occurred, which marked his personal intrepidity. Hearing 
that two deserters from his vessel were at Lewistown in pri- 
son, an officer was sent on shore for them, but he returned 
with information that the two men, with some others, had 
armed themselves, barricadoed the door, and swore they would 
not be taken : that the militia of the town had been sent for, 
but were afraid to open the door, the prisoners threatening to 
shoot the first man who entered. Captain Biddle immediately 
went to the prison, accompanied by a midshipman, and call- 
ing to one of the deserters whose name was Green, a stout* 
resolute fellow, ordered him to open the door ; he replied that 
he would not, and if he attempted to enter, he would shoot 
him. He then ordered the door to be forced, and entering 
singly with a pistol in each hand, he called to Green, who was 
prepared to fire, and said, "Now, Green, if you do not take 
good aim, you are a dead man." Daunted by his manner, 
their resolution failed, and the militia coming in, secu- 
red them. They afterwards declared to the officer who fur- 
nishes this account, that it was captain Biddle'slook and man- 
ner which had awed them into submission, for that they had 
determined to kill him as soon as he came into the room. 

Writing from the capes to his brother, the late judge Bid- 
dle, he says, " I know not what may be our fate : be it, how- 
ever, what it may, you may rest assured, I will never cause a 
blush in the cheeks of my friends or countrymen." Soon af- 
ter they sailed, the small-pox broke out and raged with great 
violence in the fleet, which was manned chiefly by New En- 
gland seamen. The humanity of captain Biddle, always 
prompt and active, was employed on this occasion to alleviate 
the general distress, by all the means in his power. His owjh 

8 



58 BIDDLE. 

crew, which was from Philadelphia, being secure against tli« 
distemper, he took on board great numbers of the sick from 
other vessels. Every part of his vessel was crowded, the 
long-boat was fitted for their accommodation, and he gave op 
his own cot to a young midshipman, on whom he bestowed the 
greatest attention till his death. In the meanwhile he slept 
himself upon the lockers, refusing the repeated solicitations 
of his officers, to accept their births. On their arrival at New 
Providence, it surrendered without opposition. The crew of 
the Andrew Doria, from their crowded situation, became sick, 
and before she left Providence, there were not men enough 
capable of doing duty to man the boats: ( aptain Biddle visited 
them every day, and ordered eveiy necessary refreshment, 
but they continued sickly until they arrive?', at New London. 
After refitting at New London, captain Biddle received or- 
ders to proceed off the banks of Newfoundland, in order to 
intercept the transports and storeships bound to Boston. Be- 
fore he reached the banks, he captured two ships from Scot- 
land, with four hundred highland troops on board, destined 
for Boston. At this time the Andrew Doria had not one hun- 
dred men. Lieutenant Josiah, a brave and excellent officer, 
was put on board one of the prizes, with all the Highland 
officers, and ordered to make the nearest port. Unfortunately, 
about ten days afterwards, he was taken by the Cerberus fri- 
gate, and, on pretence of his being an Englishman, was order- 
ed to do duty, and extremely ill used. Captain Biddle hear- 
ing of the ill treatment of lieutenant Josiah, wrote to the ad- 
miral at New York, that, however disagreeable it was to him, 
he would treat a young man of family, believed to be a son 
of lord Craston, who was then his prisoner, in the manner 
they treated lieutenant Josiah. 

He also applied to his own government in behalf of this in- 
jured officer, and by the proceedings of congress, on the 7tfe 
of August, 1776, it appears, ''that a letter from captain Ni- 
cholas Biddle to the marine committee, was laid before con- 
gress and read: whereupon, Resolved, That general Wash- 
ington be directed to propose an exchange of lieutenant Jo- 
siah, for a lieutenant of the navy of Great Britain : that the ge- 
neral remonstrate to lord Howe on the cruel treatment lieu- 
tenant Josiah has met with, of which the congress have receiv- 
ed undoubted information." Lieutenant Josiah was exchang- 
ed, after an imprisonment of ten months. After the capture 
of the ships with the Highlanders, such was captain Biddle's 
activity and success in taking prizes, that when he arrived in 
the Delaware, he had but five of the crew with which he sail- 
ed from New London, the rest having been distributed among 
the captured vessels, and their places supplied by men who 



BIDDLE. 52 

)iad entered from the prizes. He had a great number of pri- 
soners, so that, for some days before he got in, he never left 
the deck. 

While he was thus indefatigably engaged in weakening the 
enemy's power, and advancing his country's interest, he was 
disinterested and generous in all that related to his private 
advantage. The brave and worthy opponent, whom the 
chance of war had thrown in his power, found in him a patron 
and friend, who, on more than one occasion, was known to 
restore to the vanquished the fruits of victory. 

In the latter end of the year 1776, captain Biddlc was ap- 
pointed to the command of the Randolph, a frigate of thirty- 
two guns. With his usual activity, he employed every exer- 
tion to get her ready for sea. The difficulty of procuring 
American seamen at that time, obliged him, in order to man 
Lis ship, to take a number of British seamen, who were pri- 
soners of war, and who had requested leave to enter. 

The Randolph sailed from Philadelphia, in February, 
i777. Soon after she got to sea, her lower masts were dis- 
covered to be unsound, and, in a heavy gale of wind, all her 
masts went by the board. While they were bearing away for 
Charleston, the English sailors, with some others of the crew, 
formed a design to take the ship. When all was ready, they 
gave three cheers on the gun-deck. By the decided and reso- 
lute conduct of captain Biddle and his officers, the ringleaders 
were seized and punished, and the rest submitted without fur- 
ther resistance. After refitting at Charleston, as speedily as 
possible, he sailed on a cruise, and three days after he left 
the bar, he fell in with four sail of vessels, bound from Ja- 
maica to London. One of them, called the True Briton, 
mounted twenty guns. The commander of her, who had fre- 
quently expressed to his passengers, his hopes of falling in 
with the Randolph, as soon as he perceived her, made all the 
sail he could from her, but finding he could not escape, he hove 
to, and kept up a constant fire, until the Randolph had bore 
down upon him, and was preparing for a broadside, when he 
hauled down his colours. By her superior sailing, the Ran- 
dolph was enabled to capture the rest of the vessels, and in 
one week from the time he sailed from Charleston, captain 
Biddle returned there with his prizes, which proved to he very 
valuable. 

Encouraged by his spirit and success, the state of South 
Carolina made exertions for fitting out an expedition under 
his command. His name, and the personal attachment to 
him, urged forward a crowd of volunteers to serve with him, 
and in a short time, the ship general Moultrie, the brigs Fair 
American, and Polly, and the Notre Dame, were prepared 



60 B1DDLE. 

for sea. A detachment of fifty men from the hist regiment 
of South Carolina continental infantry, was ordered to act as 
marines on board the Randolph. Such was the attachment 
which the honourable and amiable deportment of captain Bid- 
die had impressed during his stay at Charleston, and such the 
confidence inspired by his professional conduct and valour, 
that a general emulation pervaded the corps to have the 
honour of serving under his command. The tour of duty, after 
a generous competition among the officers, was decided to cap- 
tain Joor, and to lieutenants Grey and Simmons, whose gal- 
lant conduct, and that of their brave detachment, did justice 
to the high character of the regiment. As soon as the Ran- 
dolph was refitted, and a new mainmast obtained in place of 
one which had been struck with lightning, she dropt down to 
Rebellion Roads with her little squadron. Their intention 
was to attack the Carysfort frigate, the Perseus twenty-four 
gun ship, the I^jnchinbrook of sixteen guns, and a privateer 
which had been cruizing off the bar, and had much annoyed 
the trade. They were detained a considerable time in Rebel- 
lion Roads, after they were ready to sail, by contrary winds 
and want of water, on the bar, for the Randolph. As soon 
as they got over the bar, they stood to the eastward, in expec- 
tation of falling in with the British cruisers. The next day, 
they retook a dismasted ship from New England ; as she had 
no cargo on board, they took out her crew, six light guns, 
and some stores, and set her on fire. Finding that the British 
ships had left the coast, they proceeded to the West Indies, 
and cruized to the eastward, and nearly in the latitude of Bar- 
hadocs, for some days, during which time they boarded a 
number of French and Dutch ships, and took an English 
schooner from New York, bound to Grenada, which had mis- 
taken the Randolph for a British frigate, and was taken pos- 
session of before the mistake was discovered. 

On the night of the 7th March, 1778, the fatal accident oc- 
curred, which terminated the life of this excellent officer, For 
some days previously, he had expected an attack. Captain 
Blake, a brave officer, who commanded a detachment of the 
second South Carolina regiment, serving as marines on board 
the general Moultrie, and to whom we are indebted for sev- 
eral of the ensuing particulars, dined on board the Randolph 
two days before the engagement. At dinner, captain Biddle 
said, "We have been cruizing here for some time, and have 
spoken a number of vessels, who will no doubt give informa- 
tion of us, and I should not be surprised if my old ship should 
be out after us. As to any thing that carries her guns upon 
one deck, I think myself a match for her." About three, P. 
M. of the 7th of March, a signal was made from the Ran- 



RIDDLE. 61 

ctolph for a sail to windward, in consequence of which the 
squadron hauled upon a wind, in order to speak her. It was 
4 o'clock before she could be distinctly seen, when she was 
discovered to be a ship, though as she. neared and came before 
the wind, she had the appearance of a large sloop, with only 
a square sail set. About 7 o'clock, the Randolph being to 
windward, hove to, the Moultrie being about one hundred and 
fifty yards astern, and rather to leeward, also hove to. About 
8 o'clock, the British ship fired a shot just ahead of the Moul- 
trie, and hailed her; the answer was, the Polly of New York, 
upon which she immediately hauled her wind, and hailed the 
Randolph. She was then, for the first time, discovered to be 
a two decker. After several questions asked and answered, 
as she was ranging up along side the Randolph, and had got 
on her weather quarter, lieutenant Barnes, of that ship, call- 
ed out. "This is the Randolph," and she immediately hoisted 
her colours, and gave the enemy a broadside. Shortly after 
the action commenced, captain Riddle received a wound in the 
thigh, and fell. This occasioned some confusion, as it was at 
first thought that he was killed. He soon, however, ordered a 
chair to be brought, said that he was only slightly wounded, 
and being carried forward encouraged the crew. The stern 
of the enemy's ship being clear of the Randolph, the captain 
of the Moultrie gave orders to fire, but the enemy having shot 
ahead, so as to bring the Randolph between them, the last 
broadside of the Moultrie went into the Randolph, and it was 
thought by one of the men saved, who was stationed on the 
quarter-deck, near captain Biddle, that he was wounded by a 
shot from the Moultrie. The fire from the Randolph was 
constant and well directed. She fired nearly three broadsides 
to the enemy's one, and she appeared, while the battle lasted 
to be in a continual blaze. In about twenty minutes after the 
action began, and while the surgeon was examining captain 
Riddle's wound on the quarter-deck, the Randolph blew up. 

The enemy's vessel was the British ship Yarmouth, of sixty 
four guns, commanded by captain Vincent. So closely were 
they engaged, that captain Morgan, of the Fair American, 
and all his crew, thought that it was the enemy's ship that had 
blown up. He stood for the Yarmouth, and had a trumpet in 
his hand to hail and inquire how captain Biddle was, when he 
discovered his mistake. Owing to the disabled condition of 
the Yarmouth, the other vessels escaped. 

The cause of the explosion was never ascertained, but it is 
remarkable that just before he sailed, after the clerk had co- 
pied the signals and orders for the armed vessels that accom- 
panied him, he wrote at the foot of them, " In case of coming 
to action in the night, be very careful of your magazines." 



62 BLAND. 

The number of persons on board the Randolph was three huu- 
dred and fifteen, who all perished, except four men, who were 
tossed about for four days on a piece of the wreck, before they 
were discovered and taken up. From the information of two 
of these men, who were afterwards in Philadelphia, and of 
some individuals in the other vessels of the squadron, we have 
been enabled to state some particulars of this unfortunate 
event in addition to the accounts given of it by Dr. Ramsay, 
in bis History of the American Revolution, and in his History 
of the Revolution in South Carolina. In the former work, 
the historian thus concludes his account of the action : ''Cap- 
tain Biddle who perished on board the Randolph was univer- 
sally lamented. He was in the prime of life, and had excited 
high expectations of future usefulness to his country, as a bold 
and skilful naval officer." 

Thus prematurely fell, at the age of twenty-seven, as gal- 
lant an officer as any country ever boasted of. In the short 
career which Providence allowed to him, he displayed all 
those qualities which constitute a great soldier. Brave to 
excess, and consummately skilled in his profession, no danger 
nor unexpected event could shake his firmness, or disturb his 
presence of mind. An exact and rigid disciplinarian, he 
tempered his authority with so much humanity and affability, 
that his orders were always executed with cheerfulness and 
alacrity. Perhaps no officer ever understood better the art 
of commanding the affections, as well as the respect of those 
who served under him; if that can be called an art which was 
rather the natural effect of the benevolence and magnanimity 
of his character. 

BLAND, TiiEononic, a worthy patriot and statesman, 
was a native of Virginia, and descended from an ancient and 
respectable family in that state. He was bred to the science 
of physic, but upon the commencement of the American war, 
he quitted the practice, and took an active part in the cause 
of his country. He soon rose to the rank of Colonel, and had 
the command of a regiment of dragoons. While in the army 
he frequently signalized himself by brilliant actions. In 1779, 
he was appointed to the command of the Convention troops at 
Albemarle barracks, in Virginia, and continued in that situ- 
ation till some time in 1780, when he was elected to a seat in 
congress. He continued in that body three years, the time 
allowed by the confederation. 

After the expiration of this term, he again returned to Vir- 
ginia, and was chosen a member of the state legislature. He 
opposed the adoption of the constitution, believing it to be re- 
pugnant to the interest of his country, and was in the minori- 
ty that voted against its,, ratification. But when it was at 



BLOUNT— BOUDINOf* 6$ 

length adopted, he submitted to the voice of the majority. He 
was chosen to represent the district in which he lived, in the 
first congress under the constitution. 

He died at New-York. June 1, 1790, while attending a ses- 
sion of Congress, in the forty-ninth year of his age. He was 
honest, open, candid; and his conduct was such in his inter- 
course with mankind as to secure universal respect. He had 
a talent and genius for poetry. 

BLOUNT, Thomas, took an early and active part in fa- 
vour of the rights and liberties of his country, at an early 
age. Whilst a boy, at the age of sixteen, he entered into his 
country's service a volunteer in the Revolutionary army, in 
which he served in a arious capacities until the conclusion of 
a peace. We are not acquainted with the rank he held at the 
close of the war, but such was the confidence of the state in 
his patriotism and military talent, that he was raised by suc- 
cessive promotion, to the highest rank in the militia of that 
state, in which capacity he commanded universal approbation. 
General Blount had been a member of congress for many 
years, with occasional intervals. As a politician, whilst he 
was justly considered the inflexible and ardent friend to his 
country, he never departed from that gentlemanly deportment 
which characterised the man. He was an honorable and 
worthy man, and in him North Carolina lost one of her most 
useful and respected citizens. Intrepid as a soldier, firm and 
consistent as a politician, he united the qualities of a states- 
man and warrior, with those of the patriot and scholar. He 
died at the city of Washington, on the 8th February, 1812, 
in the 53d year of his age, whilst attending his duties in con- 
gress, as a representative from the state of North Carolina. 
His remains were interred in the public burial ground, on the 
10th February, with military honours. His funeral was at- 
tended by the military and members of both houses of con- 
gress; and the solemnity and length of the procession which 
accompanied to the silent tomb, afforded ample testimony to 
the general sensibility for his loss. 

BOUDINOT, Elias, was born in Philadelphia, on the 2ct 
of May, 1740. He was descended from one of those pious 
refugees who fled from France to America to escape the hor- 
rors of ecclesiastical persecution, and to enjoy religious free- 
dom in this favoured land. He had the advantage of a clas- 
sical education, and pursued the study of the law under 
the direction of Richard Stockton, Esqr. a member of the 
first American congress, whose eldest sister he afterwards 
married. 

Shortly after his admission to the bar of New Jersey, Dr. 
Boudinot rose to the first grade in his profession. Early in 



64 BOUDINOT. 

the Revolutionary War he was appointed by Congress to the 
important trust of Commissary General of prisoners. In 
the year 1777, he was chosen a member of the National Con- 
gress, and in the year 1782, he was elected President of that 
august body. In this capacity, he had the honour and happi- 
ness of putting his signature to the treaty of peace, which for- 
ever established his country's independence. 

On the return of peace he resumed the practice of the law, 
It was not long, however, before he was called to a more im- 
portant station. On the adoption of the present constitution 
of the United States, the confidence of his fellow-citizens al- 
lotted him a seat in the House of Representatives of the Uni- 
ted States. In this honourable place he was continued for six 
successive years. On quitting it to return once more to the 
pursuits of private life, he was appointed by that consummate 
judge of character, the first President of the United States, 
to fill the office of director of the national mint, vacated by 
the death of the celebrated Rittenhouse. This trust he execu- 
ted, with exemplary fidelity, during the administration of 
Washington, of Adams, and (in part) of Jefferson. Resign- 
ing this office, and seeking seclusion from the perplexities of 
public life, and from the bustle and ceremony of a commercial 
metropolis, he fixed his residence in the city of Burlington, 
(New Jersey.) Here, surrounded by affectionate friends, and 
visited by strangers of distinction ; engaged much in pursuit 
of biblical literature ; practising the most liberal and un- 
ceremonious hospitality ; filling up life in the exercise of 
christian duties, and of the loveliest charities that exalt our 
nature ; meekly and quietly communicating and receiving 
happiness of the purest kind ; he sustained, and has left such 
a character, as will forever endear his memory to his friends, 
and do honour to his country. 

Prior to the revolution he was elected a member of the 
board of trustees of New Jersey college. At the time of 
his decease, he was the senior member of this corporation. 
The liberal donation he made it during life, and the more 
ample one in his last will, must be long remembered with gra- 
titude by the friends of science. But, while anxious to pro- 
mote the interests of science, he was not unmindful of the su- 
perior claims of religion on his remembrance and his bounty. 
Attached by principle and habit to the religious denomination 
of which he was so distinguished a member, he has been most 
liberal in his testamentary donations to the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church, and to their Theological Semi- 
nary, established at Princeton. But, as his mind unshackled 
by bigotry or sectarian prejudice, was expanded by the noblest 
principles of Christian benevolence, he has also very liberally 



B0WD01N. tfs 

Endowed various institutions whose object is to diffuse more 
widely the light of revealed truth ; to evangelize the heathen; 
to instruct the deaf and dumb; to educate youth for the sacred 
ministry; to advance knowledge, and to relieve the wants 
and miseries of the sick or suffering poor. 

To those of his fellow-citizens, however, who are peculiar- 
ly interested in the wide circulation of the sacred scriptures, 
perhaps the chief excellence in the character of the deceased, 
was the ardent and effective zeal he displayed in the Bible cause. 

The efforts he at first made, notwithstanding the infirmities 
of age and much unexpected opposition, to establish the Ame- 
rican Bible society; his munificent donation to this institu- 
tion at its first organization; his subsequent liberality to aid 
in the erection of a depository; the devise of a large and va- 
luable tract of land; and the deep and undiminished interest 
he has taken in all the concerns of the national society ever 
since he was chosen to be its president; while they spread his 
fame through every region of the globe, will consecrate his 
memory in the hearts of his fellow-citizens in America, and 
his fellow- christians throughout the world. But, if his pub- 
lic services and his private worth claim the tribute of general 
esteem and affectionate remembrance, the closing scene of his 
life is no less calculated to console his friends under the heavy 
loss they have sustained, than it is to edify and support 
the departing christian. In the full possession of his mental 
faculties, and in the assured persuasion of his approaching 
dissolution, his faith was firm, his patience unexhausted, and 
his hopes were bright. While, with paternal solicitude, he ex- 
horted those around him to rest on the Lord Jesus Christ aS 
the only true ground of trust; while, with solemnity and ten- 
derness, he commended a dutiful and affectionate daughter 
(iiis only child) to the care of his surviving friends, with hum- 
ble resignation he expressed his readiness, his "desire to de- 
part in peace," to the bosom of his Father in Heaven: and 
the last prayer he was heard to articulate, was, Lord Jesus, 
receive my spirit! 

Dr. Boudinot died at his seat in the city of Burlington, 
New Jersey, on the 24th of October, 1821, in the eighty- 
second year of his age. On the 26th of October, his remains 
were committed to the tomb, followed by a large concourse of 
family connections, and by the most respectable inhabitants of 
the city of Burlington. Among the mourning friends who 
attended on this occasion, was a deputation from the board of 
managers of the American bible society. 

BO WDOIN, James, governor of Massachusetts, was born 
in Boston, 1727. His father rose from common life to an 
eminence among the merchants of the town, and was suppos* 

9 



66 BOWDOIN. 

ed to leave the greatest estate which ever had been owned by 
any individual of Massachusetts. His ancestors were Frenclt 
refugees, who left their country after the revocation of the 
edict of Nantz. They first went to Ireland, and then came tfr 
New-England, 1688." 

Mr. Bowdoin was graduated at Harvard College, in 1745. 
He very soon became a distinguished character among the ci- 
tizens of Boston ; was chosen a representative to the general 
court, 1756; and from this year continued in public life till 
the year 1769, when he was negatived by governor Bernard, 
on account of his being the most leading whig at the council 
board. He was, the next year, sent representative from Bos- 
ton ; chosen a counsellor ; and accepted by Mr. Hutchinson, 
because he thought his influence less prejudicial " in the house 
of representatives, than at the council board." He was one 
of the committee that drew the answer to the governor's 
speeches, where he asserted and endeavoured to prove, by 
strong arguments, the right of Great Britain to tax America. 
For this he had the honour of being negatived by governor 
Gage, in 1774, who declared that "he had express orders 
from his majesty to set aside from that board, the honourable 
Mr. Bowdoin, Mr. Dexter, and Mr. Winthrop.*' 

During this memorable year, delegates were chosen to meet 
at Philadelphia. Mr. Bowdoin was the first member of the 
Massachusetts delegation. He was prevented from attending 
his duty by his ill state of health. Mr. Hancock was afterwards 
chosen in his place, In 1775, when the town of Boston was 
blockaded, Mr. Bowdoin was moderator of the meeting, when 
the inhabitants agreed to give up their arms to general Gage, 
on condition of their being permitted to leave the place with- 
their property, and without disturbance. In this business he 
conducted with great prudence and firmness, and w as one of 
the first who went out of Boston after the agreement. It is 
well known how shamefully the promises of the British com- 
manders were violated. Mr. Bowdoin took his place as chief 
of the Massachusetts council at Watertown, Mid was one of 
the fifteen, who by the charter were to act in the room of the 
governor, when the office was vacated. In 1778 — 80, then 
convention for establishing a state government for Massachu- 
setts, met at Cambridge, and afterwards at Boston. Of this 
body, Mi*. Bowdoin was president. In the year 1785, after 
the resignation of Hancock, he was chosen governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, and was re-elected the following year. In this of- 
fice his wisdom, firmness, and inflexible integrity, were con- 
spicuous. With uniform ability and patriotism, he advocated 
the cause of his country, and his writings and exertions du- 
ring the revolutionary war, were eminently useful. When 



BRADFORD. 

the constitution of the United States was planned, and the 
Massachusetts convention met to consider whether it should he 
adopted, Mr. Bowdoin was at the head of the Boston delega- 
tion, all of whom voted in favour of it. He made a very 
handsome speech upon the occasion, which may he read in the 
volume of their debates. From this time he changed the tu- 
mult of puhlic scenes, for domestic peace, and the satisfaction 
«f study. 

He was an excellent scholar at college, and afterwards pur- 
sued philosophical studies. When the American academy of 
arts and sciences was instituted, he was appointed the first 
president, and contributed several papers which were printed 
in the first volume of their transactions. He also pronoun- 
ced an oration "upon the benefits of Philosophy," which 
was printed in a pamphlet, and also in the volume, with the 
proceedings of the society. His literary reputation was not 
confined to his own country. He was a member of several 
foreign societies for the promotion of agriculture, arts, and 
commerce. He was also fellow of the royal society, Lon- 
don. 

In other walks of life, Mr. Bowdoin was conspicuous and 
useful. When the humane society was instituted he was 
chosen the first president. He was always ready to promote 
every literary, benevolent and religious institution. He ex- 
hibited the virtues of social life in all their engaging lustre, 
and he also breathed a christian spirit. 

His mind was imbued with religious sentiments by his edu- 
cation, and formed to the love of goodness : he was fond of 
theological inquiries amidst the course of his other studies. 
Few men, who are not of the profession, had studied divinity 
with more earnestness, or greater desire to obtain a knowledge 
of the scriptures. He early in life became a communicant at 
the church in Brattle-street. 

He died in Boston, after a distressing illness of three 
months, November 6, 1790, in the sixty-fourth year of his 
age. 

BRADFORD, William, a lawyer of great eminence, 
was born in Philadelphia, September 14th, 1755, and was 
placed early under the particular care of a very repecta- 
ble and worthy clergyman, a few miles from that city, from 
whom he received the rudiments of an education, which was 
afterwards improved to the greatest advantage, and under the 
tuition of this excellent preceptor he remained, with little in- 
terruption, until he was fit to enter college. It was at this 
time that his father had formed a plan of keeping him at 
home, and of bringing him up in the insurance office, which 
he then conducted; but so strong was the love of learning 



oS BRADFORD. 

implanted in the young mind of his son, that neither persua- 
sion, nor offers of a pecuniary advantage, could prevail with 
him to abandon the hopes of a liberal education, and he vol- 
untarily offered to resign every expectation of the former from 
his father, to attain the advantages of the latter, by a regular 
course of studies. Accordingly in the spring of 1769, he was 
sent to Princeton, and entered the college of Nassau Hall, 
then under the direction of the late learned and pious Dr. 
John Witherspoon, where he continued with great benefit to 
himself till the fall of 1772, when lie received the honours of 
the college by a degree of bachelor of arts, and in 1775, that 
of A. M. During his residence at this seminary, he was 
greatly beloved by his fellow students, while he confirmed 
the expectations of his friends and the faculty of the college, 
by giving repeated evidence of genius and taste, and at the 
public commencement, had one of the highest honours of th© 
class conferred upon him. 

He continued at Princeton till the year following, during 
which time an opportunity was afforded him of attending Dr. 
Witherspoon's excellent lectures on theology, and from this 
useful teacher he received much information and general 
knowledge ; after which he returned to the scenes of his 
youth, and spent several months under the instruction of his 
first reverend preceptor, who strove to prepare him for fu- 
ture usefulness, by his piety, experience, and knowledge of the 
world. 

Thus fitted for active life, after consulting his own inclina- 
tions, and the advice of his friends, he fixed on the study of 
the law, which he commenced under the late Edward Ship- 
pen, Esq. then one of the council of the supreme court of 
Pennsylvania, and late chief justice of that state, where he 
prosecuted his studies with his usual diligence and unwearied 
application. 

In the spring of 1776, he was called upon, by the peculiar 
circumstances of the times, to exert himself in defence of the 
dearest rights of human nature, and to join the standard of 
his country, in opposition to the oppressive exactions of Great 
Britain. When the militia were called out to form the flying 
camp, he was chosen major of brigade to general Roberdeau, 
and on the expiration of his term, accepted a company in co- 
lonel Hampton's regular troops, where he was soon promoted 
to the station of deputy paymaster general, with the rank of 
lieutenant colonel, in which office he continued about two 
years, till his want of health, being of a delicate constitution, 
obliged him to resign his commission and return home. He 
now recommenced the study of the law, and in 1779, was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, where 



BRADFORD. <>9 

his rising character soon introduced him into an unusual share 
of business ; and, in August, 1780, only one year after he was 
licensed, by the recommendations of the bar, and the particu- 
lar attention of the late Joseph Reed, Esq. then president of 
the state, he was appointed attorney general of the state of 
Pennsylvania. 

In 1784. he married the daughter of Elias Boudinot. of 
New Jersey, counsellor at law, with whom he lived till his 
death, in the exercise of every domestic virtue that could 
adorn human nature. On the reformation of the courts of 
justice under the new constitution of Pennsylvania, he was 
solicited to accept the honourable oilice of one of the judges of 
the supreme court, which, with much hesitation, he accepted, 
and was commissioned by governor Mifflin, August 22, 1791. 

His indefatigable industry, unshaken integrity, and correct 
judgment, enabled him to give general satisfaction in this of- 
fice, as well to the suitors as at the bar. Here he had deter- 
mined to spend a considerable part of his life; but on the at- 
torney general of the United States being promoted to the 
office of secretary of state, Mr. Bradford was urged, by va- 
rious public considerations, to yield to the pressure of the oc- 
casion, and accept of that oilice. He accordingly resigned 
his judge's commission, and was appointed attorney general 
of the United States on the 28th day of January, 1794. This 
office he held till his death, when he was found at his post, in 
the midst of great usefulness, possessing, in a high degree, 
the confidence of the country. 

Mr. Bradford's temper was mild and amiable; his manners 
were genteel, unassuming, modest, and conciliating. As a 
public speaker, his eloquence w-as soft, persuasive, nervous 
and convincing. lie understood mankind well, and knew 
how to place his arguments and his reasonings in the most 
striking point of light. His language was pure, sententious, 
and pleasing: and he so managed most of his forensic disputes 
as scarcely ever to displease his opponents; while he gave the 
utmost satisfaction to his clients. His close application to 
the law, and the litigation of the bar, did not prevent him 
altogether from indulging now and then his fondness for 
poetry; his taste and talents for which were above the com- 
mon standard, and several pieces of his composition have been 
published. In 1793, he published " an inquiry how far the 
punishment of death is necessary in Pennsylvania." This 
was written at the request of governor Mifflin, and intended 
for the use of the legislature, in the nature of a report ; they 
having the subject at large under their consideration. This 
performance justly gained him great credit, and its happy ef- 
fects are manifested wherever it has been read with attention. 



70 BROAD—BROOKS. 

especially in the reformation of the penal codes of several 
states in the union, where the interests of humanity have, at 
last, prevailed over ancient and inveterate prejudices. 

He died on the 23d day of August, 1795, in the fortieth, 
year of his age, and was, according to his express desire, 
buried by the side of his parents, in the burial ground belong- 
ing to the second Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. 

BROAD, Hezekiah, was a patriot of the American revo- 
lution. He was a member of the provincial congress, at 
Concord, in 1774; afterwards held a commission in the pro- 
vincial army, and a more decisive, inflexible, and courageous 
character, rarely met an invading foe. Possessing a most pow- 
erful and vigorous mind, every action of his life was balanced 
with a discriminating judgment, and tempered with discre- 
tion. If it could be said of a man that he possessed the in- 
tegrity of major Broad, lie needed no farther evidence to es- 
tablish his moral rectitude. He despised vain, pompous show, 
and generally sought happiness in reading and meditating at 
his fire-side. He was a delegate to the convention, in Cam- 
bridge, in 1779, which formed the constitution of Massachu- 
setts, and filled the various offices which his fellow townsmen 
could bestow by their suffrages, for a series of successive 
years, and managed its concerns with exactness. 

He died in Natick, Massachusetts, the 17th of March, 1824, 
in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 

BItOOKS, Eleazar, a brigadier general in the revolution- 
ary war, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1726. With- 
out the advantages of education, lie acquired a valuable fund of 
knowledge. It was his practice in early life to read the most 
approved books, and then to converse with the most intelli- 
gent men respecting them. In 1774, he was chosen a repre- 
sentative to the general court, and continued twenty-seven 
years in public life, being successively a representative, a 
member of the senate, and of the council. He took a decided 
part in the American revolution. At the head of a regiment 
he was engaged in the battle at White Plains, in 1776, and in 
the second action near Still Water, October 7, 1777. and dis- 
tinguished himself by his cool determined bravery. From the 
year 1801, he secluded himself in the tranquil scenes of do- 
mestic life. He died at Lincoln, Massachusetts, November 
9, 1806, aged eighty years. 

General Brooks possessed an uncommonly strong and pene- 
trating mind, and his judgment as a statesman was treated 
with respect. He was diligent and industrious, slow in con- 
certing, but expeditious in performing his plans. He was a 
firm believer in the doctrines of Christianity, and in his ad- 
vanced years accepted the office of deacon in the church at Li* 



BROWN. 71 

•join. This office he ranked above all others, which he had 
sustained during life. 

BROWN, Moses, was a brave officer in the navy of the 
United States. During the last forty-eight years of his life 
lie followed the profession of a mariner. In the revolutionary 
war, his reputation gained him the command of several of the 
largest private armed ships from New England. In these 
stations he was zealous, brave, and successful. He was en- 
gaged in several severe battles with the enemy, and distin- 
guished himself particularly in one with a ship of superior 
force. When the small American navy was establishing, a 
number of years after the war, the merchants of Newbury- 
port built a ship by subscription for the government, and ob- 
tained the command of her for captain Brown. His advanced 
age had not impaired his skill, nor deprived him of his zeal 
and activity. While he commanded the Merrimac he was as 
enterprising and successful as formerly; and he followed till 
his death his accustomed avocation. He died in December, 
1803, aged sixty-two years. 

BROWN, Robert, was born in Northampton county, 
Pennsylvania. At the commencement of the revolutionary 
war, he was appointed an officer in that corps of Pennsylvania 
troops, called the "flying camp," and was taken prisoner on 
Long Island. It has been frequently asserted, and with much 
confidence, that part of the time he was a prisoner, he work- 
ed at his trade, (a blacksmith) and the proceeds of his wages 
he distributed among his fellow prisoners. This was highly 
honorable and praiseworthy. He was a firm and inflexible 
patriot, and universally respected. The urbanity and repub- 
lican plainness of his manners; the uprightness and probity 
of his character, secured him the esteem of all who knew him. 
He served his country in several civil stations, and was ele- 
vated to the rank of a brigadier general in the militia of Penn- 
sylvania. He was a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania 
for some time; and also a member of the house of represen- 
tatives of the congress of the United States, for sixteen or 
seventeen successive years. He was one of those members or 
the house of representatives, who, in 1812, voted for the de- 
claration of war against Great Britain ; and he lived long 
enough to see that war gloriously terminated, and its effects 
proved most salutary to the happiness and prosperity of the 
United States. Through all the vicissitudes of party, he re- 
mained a steadfast and ardent friend to the rights and liber- 
ties of his country, and firm and unwavering in his political 
opinions. 

General Brown died at his residence, in Allen township, 
Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of February, 
1823, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. 



BRYAN. 

BRYAN, George, was a native of the city of Dublin, ii* 
Ireland; the eldest son of an ancient and respectable family. 
He received a classical and liberal education, and very early 
imbibed the principles of liberty. Even before he had closed 
his studies, he entered with an ardent zeal the ranks of oppo- 
sition to the tyrannic acts of Great Britain, against that much 
abused country. When arrived at the age of twenty-one, his 
father gave him his portion, being a sufficiency for a handsome 
establishment, in the wholesale mercantile business. He im- 
mediately embarked for Philadelphia, where he remained un- 
til his death. Although by profession a merchant, Mr. Bry- 
an's active, patriotic, and highly improved mind, led him to a 
close observation of. and inquiry into, every thing in his adop- 
ted country: its government, laws, and resources for improve- 
ment. 

After several vears of extensive business, it pleased the wise 
disposer of events to defeat the plans of Mr. Bryan, and he was, 
by the occurrences of severe losses, reduced to comparative 
poverty. But he was rich in intellectual resources. In them 
he had a friend, valuable to himself and family, but much more 
so, as the history of his life shews, to his country. His educa* 
fion fitted him for any thing that extensive knowledge could 
accomplish. 

Previous to the revolution, Mr. Bryan was introduced into 
various public employments. He was a delegate to the con- 
gress of 1775, for the purpose of petitioning and remonstrat- 
ing against the arbitrary measures of Great Britain. After 
the declaration of independence, he was vice president of the 
state of Pennsylvania, and upon the death of president Whar- 
ton, in May, 1778, he was placed at the head of the govern- 
ment. 

In 1779, Mr. Bryan was elected a member of the legisla- 
ture, of which he was one of the most intelligent, active and 
efficient. Here, amidst the tumult of war and invasion; sur- 
rounded with the tory and disaffected, when every one was 
trembling for himself, his mind was occupied by the claims of 
humanity and charity. He, at this time, planned and comple- 
ted an act for the gradual abolition of slavery, which will 
remain an imperishable monument to his memory. These were 
the days il that tried men's souls; 99 and it was in those days 
that the patriotism, wisdom and firmness, of Mr- Bryan, were, 
conspicuously efficient and useful. He furnished evidence, 
that in opposing the exactions of foreign power, he was oppos- 
ing tyranny, and was really attached to the cause of liberty. 
After this period, Mr. Bryan was a juc'ge of the Supreme 
Court, in which station he continued until his death. In 1784. 
lie was elected one of the council of censors, and was one of 
its most active members. 



BURD. 73 

Besides the offices mentioned, judge Bryan filled a num- 
ber of public, titulary, and charitable employments. Form- 
ed for a close application to study, animated with an ardent 
thirst for knowledge, and blessed with a memory of wonder- 
ful tenacity, and a clear, penetrating, and decisive judgment, 
he availed himself of the labours and acquisitions of others, 
and brought honour to the stations which he occupied. To 
his other attainments, he added the virtues of the christian. 
He was distinguished by benevolence and sympathy with the 
distressed ; by an unaffected humility and modesty ; by his 
readiness to forgive injuries, and by his inflexible integrity. 
He was superior to the powers and blandishments of the world. 
Thus eminently qualified for the various public offices in which 
lie was placed, he was humble and faithful in discharging 
their duties, and he filled them with dignity and reputation 
in the worst of times, and in the midst of a torrent of unmer- 
ited obloquy, abuse and opposition. When, on a certain oc- 
casion, some of his intimate friends desired him to permit 
them to answer a particular charge made against him, he re- 
plied, "no, my friends, such things rankle not in my breast; 
my character must stand on my general conduct." Such was his 
disinterestedness and his zeal for the public cause, and for 
the good of others, that his own interest seemed to have been 
wholly overlooked. In the administration of justice he was 
impartial and incorruptible. He was an ornament to the pro- 
fession of Christianity, which he made the delight of his con- 
nexions, and a public blessing to the state. By his death, 
religion lost an amiable example, and science a steady friend. 

BURD, Benjamin, joined the standard of his country at 
an early age. In July, 1775, (in his twenty-first year,) he 
joined colonel Thompson's regiment of riflemen, as a volunteer, 
and arrived at Boston aboutthe 1st of August following. In 
the month of October, he was appointed a lieutenant, in which 
command he was in various skirmishes with the British near 
Boston. From thence he was ordered to New York, and was 
immediately afterwards in the battle of Long Island. In 1777, 
he was appointed a captain in the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment, 
in which he was in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Af- 
terwards he commanded the left platoon of General Wayne's 
division at the battle of Brandy w inc. He was also at the Pa- 
oli, and in the battle of Germ an town, he acted as Major. Af- 
ter the battle of Monmouth, in which he was also conspicuously 
engaged, he was ordered to join the detachment which marched 
against the Indians, and burnt their towns up the North River, 
in 1779. In all these various services and engagements, he 
was distinguished for his activity, bravery, and enterprise. 
At the close of the war he settled dow T n upon his paternal farm 

10 



74 BUTLER. 

at Fort Littleton, where lie was long known and esteemed for 
his hospitality, urbanity, and gentlemanly deportment. He 
removed, some years ago, to Bedford, before and after which 
removal he discharged with credit the duties of several civil 
offices. 

General Burd died at Bedford, Pennsylvania, on the fifth 
clay of October, 1823, in the seventieth year of his age. Be- 
sides the many private virtues which endeared him to a very 
large circle of acquaintances, his public character, the evi- 
dences of his patriotism, but especially his revolutionary ser- 
vices, rendered him highly respectable. 

BUTLER, Richard, a brave officer during the war of 
the American revolution, sustained the office of colonel at the 
close of the struggle with Great Britain. He was a lieu- 
tenant colonel of Morgan's rifle corps, and distinguished him- 
self in a remarkable manner on many occasions. He was a 
bold and intrepid soldier, and possessed, in a high degree, the 
confidence of the commander in chief. 

Lee, in his memoirs of the war in the southern department, 
gives an account of an affair between the British and Ameri- 
can troops, while a detachment of the American army under 
general La Fayette, lay near Williamsburg, Virginia, the head 
quarters of Lord Cornwallis, in 1781. 

"While in his camp before Williamsburg, the British gen- 
eral learnt that we had some boats and stores on the Chicka- 
hominy river. Hither he detached lieutenant colonel Simcoe 
with his corps and the yagers to destroy them. This service 
was promptly performed; but the American general, having 
discovered from his exploring parties, the march of Sjmcoe, 
detached on the 26th, lieutenant colonel Butler, of the Penn- 
sylvania line, the renowned second and rival of Morgan at 
Saratoga. The rifle corps under the majors Call and Willis, 
and the cavalry, which did not in the whole exceed one hun- 
dred and twenty effectives, composed Butler's van. Major 
M'Pherson, of Pennsylvania, led this corps ; and having 
mounted some infantry behind the remnant of Armand's dra- 
goons, overtook Simcoe on his return near Spencer's planta- 
tion, six or seven miles above Williamsburg. The sudden- 
ness of M'Pherson' s attack threw the yagers into confusion; 
but the Queen's rangers quickly deployed, and advanced to 
the support of the yagers. 

** Call and Willis had now got up to M'Pherson with their 
riflemen, and the action became fierce. Lieutenant Lollar 
at the head of a squadron of Simcoe's hussars, fell on Ar- 
mand's remnant, and drove it out of line, making lieutenant 
Breso and some privates prisoners. Following his blow, 
Lollar turned upon our riflemen, then pressing upon the 



BUTLER. 75 

Queen's rangers, and at the same moment captain Ogi'hie, of' 
the legion cavalry, who had been sent that morning from 
camp with one troop for the collection of forage, accidentally 
appeared on our left flank. The rifle corps fell hack in con- 
tusion upon Butler, drawn up in the rear with his continentals. 
Satisfied with the repulse of the assailing troops, lieutenant 
colonel Simcoe began to retire; nor was he further pressed by 
Butler, as Comwallis had moved with the main body on hear- 
ing the first lire, to shield Simcoe. La Fayette claimed the 
advantage in this rencontre, and states his enemy's loss to be 
sixty killed, and one hundred wounded; whereas lord Corn- 
wallis acknowledges the loss of only three officers and thirty 
privates, killed and wounded. Among the former was lieu- 
tenant Jones, a much admired young officer. 

"What was our loss in killed and wounded does not appear 
in the report of La Fayette; hut three officers and twenty- 
eight privates were taken. 5 ' 

When General St. Clair was appointed to the command of 
the army against the western Indians, colonel Butler was 
selected as second in command. In the battle of Novem- 
ber 4, 1791, which terminated in the defeat of St. Clair, 
he commanded the right wing of the army, with the rank 
of general. "It was on this occasion, that the intre^- 
pid Butler closed his military career in death; his coolness 
preserved, and courage remaining unshaken, till the last mo- 
ment of existence. While enabled to keep the field, his exer- 
tions were truly heroic. He repeatedly led his men to the 
charge, and with slaughter drove the enemy before him; but 
being at length compelled to retire to his tent, from the num- 
ber and severity of his wounds, he was receiving surgical aid, 
when a ferocious warrior rushing into his presence, gave him 
a mortal blow with his tomahawk. But even then the gal- 
lant soldier died not unrevenged. He had anticipated this 
catastrophe, and discharging a pistol which he held in his 
hand, lodged its contents into the breast of his enemy, who 
uttering a hideous yell, fell by his side and expired !** 

BUTLER, Thomas, a brave officer during the revolution- 
ary war with Great Britain, was a brother of the preceding. 
Three other brothers fought in the service of their country. 
In the year 1776, he was a student at law with the eminent 
judge Wilson of Philadelphia: but early in that year he quit- 
ted his studies, and joined the army as a subaltern. He soon 
obtained the command of a company, in which grade he con- 
tinued till the close of the revolutionary contest. He was in 
almost every action that was fought in the middle states du- 
ring the war. At the battle of Brandy wine, September 11, 
1777, he received the thanks «f general Washington *» the 



76 BUTLER. 

field of battle, through his aid de camp, general Hamilton, 
for his intrepid conduct in rallying a detachment of retreat- 
ing troops, and giving the enemy a severe fire. At the battle 
of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, he received the thanks of gen- 
eral Wayne for defending a defile in the face of a heavy fire 
from the enemy, while colonel Richard Butler's regiment made 
good their retreat. 

At the close of the war he retired into private life as a far- 
mer, and continued in the enjoyment of rural and domestic 
happiness, till the year 1791, when he again took the field to 
meet a savage foe, that menaced our western frontier. He 
commanded a battalion in the disastrous battle of November 
4, in which his brother fell. Orders were given by general 
St. Clair to charge with the bayonet, and major Butler, 
though his leg had been broken by a ball, yet on horseback 
led his battalion to the charge. It was with difficulty that 
his surviving brother, captain Edward Butler, removed him 
from the field. In 1792, he was continued on the establish- 
ment as a major, and in 1794, he was promoted to the rank 
of lieutenant colonel commandant of the fourth sub-legion. 
He commanded, in this year, Fort Fayette at Pittsburg, and 
prevented the deluded insurgents from taking it more by his 
name, than by his forces, for he had but few troops. In 1797, 
he was named by president Washington as the officer best cal- 
culated to command in the state of Tennessee, when it was 
necessary to dispossess some citizens, who had imprudently 
settled on the Indian lands. Accordingly, in May he marched 
with his regiment from the Miami on the Ohio, and by that 
prudence and good sense, which marked his character through 
life, he in a short time removed all difficulties. While in Ten- 
nessee, he made several treaties with the Indians. In 1802, 
at the reduction of the army, he was continued as colonel of a 
regiment on the peace establishment. 

The close of his life was embittered by trouble. In 1803, 
he was arrested by the commanding general at Fort Adams, 
on the Mississippi, and sent to Maryland, where he was 
tried by a court martial, and acquitted of all the charges, ex- 
cept that of wearing his hair. He was then ordered to New 
Orleans, where he arrived to take the command of the troops, 
October 20. He was again arrested the next month, but the 
court did not meet till July of next year, and their decision is 
not known. Colonel Butler died September 7, 1805, aged 
fifty-one years. 

BUTLER, Zebulon, was born at Lyme, in the state of 
Connecticut, in the year 1731. He entered early in life into 
the service of his country in the provincial troops of his na- 
tive state. In this service he remained, actively employed. 



BUTLEK. 77 

for several years, and rose from the rank of an ensign to the 
command of a company. He partook largely in the transac- 
tions of the war between the English and French, on the 
frontiers of Canada, particularly in the campaign of 1758, at 
fort Edward, Lake George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point. In 
1761, he was again at Crown Point, and at that time held the 
rank of captain. The history of these transactions is well known, 
and need not here be repeated. In Jane, 1762, captain But- 
ler sailed with his company, and the other provincial troops, 
to reinforce the British, then besieging the Havanna; and on 
the 20th of July, the vessel in which he sailed was shipwreck- 
ed on a reef of rocks on the island of Cuba. They were for- 
tunate enough to escape to the shore, where they remained 
nine days, and were then taken on board a man of war. Five 
other ships were discovered also shipwrecked on the same 
side of the island, and after waiting until these were relieved, 
they again steered for Havanna. They arrived, and anchor- 
ed with the rest of the fleet on the 9th of August, and the 
next day landed and encamped. The sufferings and the suc- 
cess of the British at the siege of Havanna, are matters of 
history. Captain Butler shared in the dangers of the re- 
mainder of the siege, as well as in the honours and profits of 
the surrender, which took place shortly after the arrival of 
the reinforcements. 

On the 21st of October, 1762, captain Butler sailed out of 
the harbour of Havanna on his return, on board the Royal 
Duke transport. On the 7th of November, in latitude 35, the 
ship sprung a leak, and it was by the greatest exertions 
for three days, that she could be kept afloat, until the men 
were transferred to other ships. When this was accomplish- 
ed, they left the Royal Duke to sink. He arrived at New 
York on the 21st day of December. 

When the aggressions of the British ministry compelled their 
American colonies to take up arms in defence of their rights, 
captain Butler was among the first to tender his services to 
his country. His offer was accepted, and he was appointed a 
lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut line. In this capacity, 
he was with the army in the campaign of 1777, in New Jersey, 
and served until March, 1 779, when he was appointed colonel of 
the second Connecticut regiment, to rank as such from the 13th 
of March, 1778. Some time previous to this, colonel Butler 
had become interested in lands purchased of the Indians by 
the Susquehanna company, lying in the valley of Wyoming, 
and adjacent on the Susquehanna river. He had visited the 
valley, and was so much pleased with it, that he determined to 
remove into it. This flourishing settlement had been esta- 
blished by the people of Connecticut, and was claimed by 



78 BUTLER. 

them by virtue of their charter and their purchase from the 
Indians. It consisted of several large townships, beautifully 
situated on both sides of the river; and that part of it which 
is included in the valley of Wyoming was, and still is, one of 
the most delightful spots in our country. Its situation, soil, 
and scenery, cannot be surpassed. It had long been the fa- 
vorite abode of the savages, and they viewed, with peculiar 
animosity, its occupancy by strangers. The war in which 
the colonists were engaged with the mother country, and the 
encouragement and protection held out by the British to the 
Indians, afforded the latter a good opportunity for gratifying 
their wicked designs, in the destruction of this remote settle- 
ment. This they, in conjunction with the British andtories, 
effectually accomplished in July, 1778. 

This settlement, at an early period of our revolutionary 
struggle, had been drained of its effective force, by furnishing 
two companies, of ninety men each, to the continental army. 
Soon after the departure of these troops, the Indians began to 
assume a hostile attitude, and their conduct, together with other- 
suspicious circumstances, led the inhabitants to suspect that 
some mischief was meditating against them, though they did not 
apprehend an immediate attack. For their better security, 
several stockade forts were built in the different townships, 
and a company of rangers was raised, under the command of 
captain Hewitt. This company was destined to remain in 
the valley for its defence, and to ascertain by its scouts the 
movements of the Indians, some of whom were located at 
their Indian towns, about fifty miles up the Susquehanna. In 
the spring of 1778, the settlers fearing an attack, sent an ex- 
press to the board of war, to represent the danger in which 
the settlement at Wyoming was of being destroyed by the 
Indians and tories, and to request that the men who had gone 
from the valley, and joined the continental army, might be 
ordered to return^ and assist in the defence of their homes. 
Their request was granted, and a company commanded by 
captain Spalding, composed of what remained of the two com- 
panies before mentioned as having been enlisted at Wyoming, 
set out for the valley, and were within two days march of it, 
on the day of the fatal battle. About the first of June, the 
same year, a scouting party from captain Hewitt's company 
discovered a number of canoes with Indians, on the river at 
some distance above the settlement, and a few days after, a 
party of Indians attacked, and killed or made prisoners, of 
nine or ten men, while at work on the bank of the river. 
about ten miles above the fort. Many circumstances indicated 
the approach of a large body of the enemy. Such was the 
situation of the settlement when colonel Butler arrived. This 



BUTLER. 79 

was the latter part of June, and but a few days before the 
battle. On the 1st of July, the militia under the command 
of colonel Denison, with all others who were capable and 
willing to bear arms, assembled at the fort in Wilkesbarre, 
being the principal fort. They made an excursion against 
the enemy, killed two Indians, and found the bodies of the 
men who had been murdered by them. When they returned, 
each man was obliged to go to his own house and furnish him- 
self with provisions, as there were none collected at the fort. 
In consequence of tbis dispersion, they were not able to as- 
semble again until the 3d of July, when their whole strength 
amounted to about three hundred and fifty men. It probably 
would have been greater, but many of the settlers chose rather 
to remain in the other forts for the purpose of defending their 
families and property, in which they naturally felt a greater 
interest than in the general welfare. Of the whole force, 
consisting of the militia, captain Hewitt's company of ran- 
gers, and a few volunteers, including several officers and sol- 
diers of the regular army, who happened to be in the valley, 
colonel Butler was requested to take the command. The 
whole, as before stated, amounted to about three hundred and 
fifty men, indifferently furnished with arms and ammunition. 

As the enemy had entered the valley at the upper end, and 
had advanced directly towards the fort, in which the settlers 
were assembled, the object of the savages was supposed to be 
to attack them in the fort. The enemy had taken fort Win- 
termote, and one other small fort, and burnt them, and were 
burning and laying waste the whole country in their progress. 
Colonel Butler held a consultation with the officers, and it 
was decided to be best to go out and intercept the progress of 
the enemy, if possible, and put an end to the scene of devas- 
tation which they witnessed. Being perfectly acquainted 
with the country, they marched out some distance from the 
fort, and formed on the bank of a creek, in a very advanta- 
geous situation. Here they lay concealed, expecting that 
the enemy would advance to attack the fort, and knowing that 
if they did so, they would pass the place where the Americans 
were in ambush. In this situation they remained near half the 
day, but no enemy appearing, a council was called in which 
there was a difference of opinion as to the expediency of ad- 
vancing and attacking the enemy, or of returning to the fort, 
there to defend themselves until the arrival of captain Spald- 
ing's company, which was daily expected. On the one hand 
the hope of succour, and their uncertainty as to the strength 
of the enemy, were urged as reasons for returning, and on 
the other, the destruction of the whole country, which w ould 
inevitably follow such a step, together with the insufficiency 



80 BUTLER. 

of the fort, and the want of provisions to enable them to stand 
a siege, were powerful reasons in favor of risking an immedi- 
ate battle. Captain Lazarus Stewart, a brave man, famous 
in the country for his exploits among the Indians, and whose 
opinion had much weight, urged an immediate attack; declar- 
ing that if they did not march forward that day and attack 
the enemy, he would withdraw with his whole company. 
This left them no alternative, and they advanced accordingly. 
They had not gone above a mile, before the advance guard 
fired upon some Indians who were in the act of plundering and 
burning a house. These fled to their camp and gave the 
alarm that the Americans were approaching. Fort Winter - 
mote was at this time the head-quarters of the enemy. Their 
whole force, consisting of Indians, British and tories, was as 
near as could afterwards be ascertained, about one thousand 
men, and was commanded by colonel John Butler, an officer 
of the British army, and an Indian chief called Brandt. They 
were apparently unapprised of the movements of the Ameri- 
cans, until the return to the main body of those Indians wh® 
had been fired on. They immediately extended themselves in 
a line from the fort, across a plain covered with pine trees and 
under brush. When formed, the right of the enemy rested 
on a swamp, and their left on Fort W intermote. The Ameri- 
cans marched to the attack, also in a line, colonel Zebulon 
Butler leading on the right wing, opposed by colonel John 
Butler, at the head of the British troops, painted to resemble 
Indians; colonel Denison was on the left, and opposed by 
Brandt and the Indians. In this position, the parties engag- 
ed, and each supported its ground for some time with much 
firmness. At length the Americans on the right had the ad- 
vantage of the fight, having forced the enemy's left wing to 
retire some distance. But on the left the battle soon wore a 
different aspect. The Indians, having penetrated the swamp, 
were discovered attempting to get into their rear. Colonel 
Denison immediately gave orders for the left to fall back and 
meet them as they came out of the swamp. This order was 
misunderstood, and some ofthemenor officers cried out "the 
colonel orders a retreat. '-' The left immediately gave way, 
and before they could be undeceived as to the object of the or- 
der, the line broke, and the Indians rushed on with hideous 
yells. Colonel Zebulon Butler, who had continued on horse- 
back throughout the day, finding that the right wing was do- 
ing well, rode towards the left. When he got a little more 
than halfway down the line, he discovered that his men were 
retreating, and that he was between the two fires, and near 
the advancing line of the enemy. The right had no notice of* 
the retreat, until the firing on the left had ceased, and the 



BUTLER* 91 

yelling of the savages indicated their success. This wing, 
no longer able to maintain its ground, was forced to retreat, 
and the route soon became general. The officers were prin- 
cipally killed in their ineffectual attempts to rally the men. 
The defeat was total, and the loss in killed was variously es-= 
timated at from two to three hundred of the settlers. Of cap- 
tain Hewitt's company but fifteen escaped. The loss of the 
enemy was also considerable. Colonels Butler and Denison, 
although much exposed to the enemy's lire, escaped. CoIo-j 
nel Butler collected four or five men together in their flight, 
directed them to retain their arms, and when any of the In- 
dians, who were scattered over the plain, hunting for their vic- 
tims, approached the little party, they fired upon them, and 
by this means they secured their retreat to Forty Fort. Ma- 
ny of the settlers, at the commencement of their flight, had 
thrown away their arms, that they might be better able to 
escape. But this was of no avail, for the Indians overtook and 
killed them with their tomahawks. The few that escaped, 
assembled at Forty Fort: but the inhabitants were so much 
disheartened by their defeat, that they were ready to submit 
upon any terms that might be offered. The enemy refused to 
treat with colonel Butler, or to give quarter to any continent- 
al officer or soldier. Indeed, it had been determined, that if 
they were taken, to deliver them into the hands of the Indians. 
Colonel Butler then left the valley, and proceeded to a place 
on the Lehigh, called Gnadenhutten. On the 4th of July, col- 
onel Denison and colonel John Butler entered into articles of 
capitulation for the surrender of the settlement. By these 
articles it was stipulated among other things, that "the lives 
of the inhabitants should be preserved," and that they should 
"occupy their farms peaceably;" that "the continental stores 
should be given up," and "that the private property of the 
inhabitants should be preserved entire and unhurt." The ene- 
my then marched into the fort;* but the conditions of the capi- 
tulation were entirely disregarded on their part. The Indians 
plundered the inhabitants indiscriminately, and stripped them 
even of such of their wearing apparel as they chose to take. 
Complaint was made to colonel John Butler, who turned his 
back upon them, saying he could not controul the Indians, 
and walked out of the fort. The people, finding that they 
were left to the mercy of the tories and savages, fled from the, 
valley, and made the best of their way, about fifty miles, 
through the wilderness, to the nearest settlement of their 
friends, leaving their property a prey to the enemy. All the 
houses on the north west side of Susquehanna were plundered 
and burnt. They afterwards plundered and burnt the town of 
Wilkesbarre. Having accomplished the hellish purpose e£ 

11 



SJ2 BUTLER, 

destruction and desolation, the main body of the enemy re- 
turned to Niagara, taking with them all the horses, cattle,, 
and other property which they did not think proper to destroy, 
leaving behind them nothing but one vast, melancholy scene 
of universal desolation. 

It may be proper to notice the generally received opinion, 
that colonel Zcbulon Butler and colonel John Butler were 
cousins. This is a mistake. Bods the parties denied having 
any knowledge of any relationship subsisting between them. 
From Gnadenhutten colonel Butler wrote to the board of 
war, giving an account of the fatal disaster of the 3d of July, 
He then went to Stroudsburg, in Northampton county, where 
lie found captain Spalding's company, and so me fugitives from 
Wyoming. Colonel Butler was ordered to collect what force 
he could, and with Spalding's company return and retake pos- 
session of the country. This he did in the month of August 
following. On his return to the valley, he found some strag- 
gling Indians, and also a small party driving off cattle. These 
were soon dispersed, and their booty taken from them. He 
immediately erected a fort at Wilkesbarre, and established a 
garrison. By orders from the board of war, he continued in 
the command of the place until the fall of 1780, during which 
lime the garrison and the inhabitants generally suffered from 
the incursions of the Indians. Several lives were lost, and 
they killed a number of the Indians, though no general battle 
was fought. General Sullivan's expedition checked for a while 
their ravages. He arrived in Wyoming in the spring of 1779, 
and as soon as proper arrangements could be made, he march- 
ed into the country of the Indians, leaving colonel Butler in 
the command at Wyoming. 

By orders from general Washington, dated, "Head Quar- 
ters, New Windsor, December 29th, 1780," colonel Butler 
was directed to deliver the post, at Wyoming to captain Alex- 
ander Mitchell, and to march with the men under his command 
and join the army. This was stated by general Washington 
to be in consequence of "Congress having, in order to re- 
move all cause of jealousy and discontent between the states 
of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, directed me to withdraw the 
present garrison of Wyoming, and replace them with troops 
from the continental army, not belonging to the line of Penn- 
sylvania or Connecticut, or citizens of either of said states.'* 
In obedience to these orders, he repaired to head quarters, 
and remained with the army during the rest of the war. 

In the unhappy dispute between the citizens of Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania, arising out of the claims which the latter 
advanced to the lands on the Susquehanna, upon which the 
former had settled, colonel Butler took an active part in fa- 



CADWALADER. 83 

vour of the Connecticut settlers. He considered tliem as act- 
ing on the defensive, and the others as the aggressors. Open 
hostilities commenced between the parties as early as 1769, 
and were continued until after the revolutionary war. The New 
England people were twice driven from their settlements, 
though they returned immediately with reinforcements, and 
repossessed themselves of the country. Many lives were lost 
en both sides, and innumerable hardships endured, during this 
unfortunate contest. iNo very general engagement ever took 
place between the parties. The principal array of forces which 
was at any time made against each other, was at the defeat 
of captain Plun.ket, in 1775. This officer had marched from 
Northumberland, for the purpose of dispossessing the settlers 
at Wyoming, and taking possession of it themselves in the 
name of the Pennsylvania claimants. Colonel Butler with a 
party of settlers met them at the lower end of the valley, de- 
feated them, and drove them back. The decree of Trenton, 
as it is called, put an end to hostilities, by determining, that 
the jurisdiction of the state of Pennsylvania extended over the 
disputed territory. To this determination colonel Butler, 
with most of the settlers, yielded. After the war he continued 
to reside at Wyoming, and received appointments under the 
state of Pennsylvania, particularly the situation of lieutenant 
of the county. He died at Wilkesbarre, on the 28th of July, 
1795, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 

As numerous and very incorrect accounts of the " Massacre 
of Wyoming," (as the foregoing battle has generally, and with 
great truth, been called,) have been published and incorporated 
in the histories of the times, the compiler is induced to state, that 
the foregoing sketcli was politely furnished by a descendant 
of colonel Butler, residing in the valley, and may be relied 
on as a correct and faithful narrative of the transactions of 
that fatal and disastrous day. 

CADWALADER, John, born in Philadelphia, was dis- 
tinguished for his zealous and inflexible adherence to the 
cause of America, and for his intrepidity as a soldier, in up- 
holding that cause during the most discouraging periods of 
danger and misfortune. At the dawn of the revolution, he 
commanded a corps of volunteers, designated as "the silk 
stocking company " of which nearly all the members were 
appointed to commissions in the line of the army. He after- 
wards was appointed colonel of one of the city battalions: and, 
being thence promoted to the rank of brigadier general, was 
intrusted with the command of the Pennsylvania troops, in 
the important operations of the winter campaign of 1776 and 
1777. He acted with his command, and as a volunteer, in the ac 
tions of Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth, 



§4 CADWALADER 

and other occasions; and received the thanks of general Wash- 
ington, whose confidence and regard he uniformly enjoyed. 

When general Washington determined to attack the Bri- 
tish and Hessian troops at Trenton, he assigned him the com- 
mand of a division. In the evening of Christmas day, 1776, 
general Washington made arrangements to pass the river De- 
laware, in three divisions: one, consisting of 500 men, under 
general Cadwalader, from the vicinity of Bristol; a second 
division, under the command of general Irvine, was to cross 
at Trenton ferry, and secure the hridge leading to the town. 
Generals Cadwalader and Irvine made every exertion to get 
over, but the quantity of ice was so great, that they could not 
effect their purpose. The third, and main body, which was 
commanded by general Washington, crossed at M'Konkey's 
ferry; but the ice in the river retarded their passage so long, 
that it was three o'clock in the morning before the artillery 
could be got over. On their landing in Jersey, they were 
Formed into two divisions, commanded by generals Sullivan 
and Greene, who had under their command brigadiers lord 
Sterling, Mercer, and St. Clair: one of these divisions was 
ordered to proceed on the lower, or river road, the other on 
the upper or Pennington road. Colonel Stark, with some 
light troops, was also directed to advance near to the river, 
and to possess himself of that part of the town, which is be- 
yond the bridge. The divisions having nearly the same dis- 
tance to march, were ordered immediately on forcing the out- 
guards, to push directly into Trenton, that they might charge 
the enemy before they had time to form. Though they march- 
ed different roads, yet they arrived at the enemy's advanced 
post within three minutes of each other. The out-guards of 
the Hessian troops at Trenton soon fell back, but kept up a 
constant retreating fire. Their main body being hard pressed 
by the Americans, who had already got possession of half 
their artillery, attempted to file off by a road leading towards 
Princeton, but were checked by a body of troops thrown in 
their way. Finding they were surrounded, they laid down 
their arms. The number which submitted, was twenty-three 
officers, and eight hundred and eighty-six men. Between 
thirty and forty of the Hessians were killed and wounded. 
Colonel Raid was among the former, and seven of his officers 
among the latter. Captain Washington, of the Virginia 
troops, and five or six of the Americans were wounded. Two 
were killed, and two or three were frozen to death. The de- 
tachment in Trenton, consisting of the regiments of Rahl, 
Losberg and Kniphausen, amounting in the whole to about 
fifteen hundred men, and a troop of British light horse. All 
these were killed or captured, except about six hnndred, who 
-escaped by the road leading to Bordentown. 



CADWALADER. 85 

The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at 
Princeton, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware, su- 
perior to the American army. General Washington, there- 
fore, in the evening of the same day, thought it most prudent 
te recross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners. 

The next day after Washington's return, supposing him 
still on the Jersey side, general Cadwalader crossed with 
about fifteen hundred men, and pursued the panic struck ene- 
my to Burlington, 

The merits and services of general Cadwalader, induced 
the congress, early in 1778, to compliment him by an unani- 
mous vote, with the appointment of general of cavalry; which 
appointment he declined, under an impression that he could 
be more useful to his country in the sphere in which he had 
been acting. 

The victory at Trenton had a most happy effect, and gener- 
al Washington, finding himself at the head of a force with 
which it was practicable to attempt something, resolved not 
to remain inactive. Inferior as he was to the enemy, he yet 
determined to employ the winter in endeavoring to recover the 
whole, or a great part of Jersey. The enemy were now col- 
lected in force at Princeton, under lord Cornwallis, where 
some works were thrown up. Generals Mifflin and Cadwal- 
ader, who lay at Bordentown and Cross wicks, with three 
thousand six hundred militia, were ordered to march up in 
the night of the first January, 1777, to join the commander in 
chief, whose whole force, with this addition, did not exceed 
five thousand men. He formed the bold and judicious design 
of abandoning the Delaware, and marching silently in the 
night by a circuitous route, along the left flank of the enemy, 
into their rear at Princeton, where he knew they could not be 
very strong. He reached Princeton early in the morning of 
the third, and would have completely surprised the British, 
had not a party, which was on their way to Trenton, descri- 
ed his troops, when they were about two miles distant, and 
sent back couriers to alarm their fellow soldiers in the rear. 
A sharp action ensued, which however was not of long dura- 
tion. The militia, of which the advanced party was princi- 
pally composed, soon gave way. General Mercer was mor- 
tally wounded while exerting himself to rally his broken 
troops. The moment was critical. General Washington 
pushed forward, and placed himself between his own men and 
the British, with his horse's head fronting the latter. The 
Americans, encouraged by his example, made a stand, and re- 
turned the British fire. A party of the British fled into the 
college, and were attacked with field pieces. After receiv- 
ing a few discharges they came oqt and surrendered them- 



86 CADWALADER, 

selves prisoners of war. In this action upwards of one hun- 
dred of the enemy were killed on the spot, and three hundred 
taken prisoners. The Americans lost only a few, hut colo- 
nels Haslet and Potter, two hrave and valuable officers, from 
Delaware and Pennsylvania, were among the slain. 

General Cadwalader's celebrated duel with general Con- 
way, arose from his spirited opposition to the intrigues of that 
officer, to undermine the standing of the commander in chief* 
The anecdote relative to the duel, in " Anecdotes of the Rev- 
olutionary War," by Alexander Garden, of Charleston, South 
Carolina, is not entirely correct. 

It will be recollected that general Conway was dangerous- 
ly wounded, and while his recovery was doubtful, lie address- 
ed a letter to general Washington, acknowledging that he had 
done him injustice. 

Among many obituary notices of general Cadwalader, this 

patriotic and exemplary man, the following outline of his 

character, in the form of a monumental inscription, is selected 

from a Baltimore paper, of the 24th of February, 1786: 

In memory of 

General John Cadwalader, 

Who died, February the 10th, 1786, 

At Shrewsbury, his seat in Kent county, 

In the 44th year of his age. 

This amiable and worthy Gentleman, 

Had served his Country 

With reputation, 

In the character of a 

Soldier and Statesman: 

He took an active part, and had a principal 

Share, in the late Revolution, 

And, although he was zealous in the cause 

Of American Freedom, 

His conduct was not mark'd with the 

jLeast degree of malevolence, or party spirit. 

Those who honestly differed from him 

in opinion, 

He always treated with singular tenderness, 

In sociability, and cheerfulness of temper, 

Honesty and goodness of heart, 

Independence of spirit, and warmth of 

Friendship, 

He had no superior, 

And few, very few equals: 

Never did any man die more lamented 

By his Friends, and Neighbours ; 

To his family and near relations, 

His death was a stroke still more severe. 



CASWELL— CHAMPE. 87 

CASWELL, Richard, governor of North Carolina, re- 
ceived an education suitable for the bar, and was uniformly 
distinguished as a friend to the rights of mankind. He pos- 
sessed a sensibility, which impelled him to relieve the dis- 
tress, which he witnessed. Whenever oppressed indigence 
called for his professional assistance, he afforded it without 
the hope of any other reward, than tbe consciousness of hav- 
ing exerted himself to promote the happiness of a fellow man. 

Warmly attached to the liberties of his country, he was 
appointed a member of the first congress, in 1774, and he 
early took arms in resistance to the arbitrary claims of Great 
Britain. He was at the head of a regiment in 1776, when it 
became necessary to oppose a body of loyalists composed of a 
number of the ignorant and disorderly inhabitants of the fron- 
tiers, styling themselves regulators, and of emigrants from 
the highlands of Scotland. This party of about fifteen hun- 
dred men was collected in the middle of February, under ge- 
neral M'Donald. He was pursued by general Moore, and on 
the 27th he found himself under the necessity of engaging co- 
lonel Caswell, who was intrenched with about a thousand 
minute men and militia, directly in his front, at a place called 
Moore's creek-bridge. This was about sixteen miles distant 
from Wilmington, where M'Donald hoped to join general 
Clinton. But he was defeated and taken prisoner by Cas- 
well, with the loss of seventy men in killed and wounded, and 
fifteen hundred excellent rifles. This victory was of eminent 
service to the American cause in North Carolina. 

Mr. Caswell was president of the convention, which formed 
the constitution of North Carolina, in December, 1776, un- 
der which constitution he was governor from April, 1777, to 
the year 1780, and from 1785, to 1787. At the time of his 
death he was president of the senate, and for a number of 
years he had held the commission of major general. He died 
at Fay etteville, November 20, 1789. 

In his character the public and domestic virtues were 
united. Ever honoured with some marks of the approbation 
of his fellow citizens, he watched with unremitted attention 
over the welfare of the community, and anxiously endeavour- 
ed also to promote the felicity of its members in their sepa- 
rate interests. While the complacency of his disposition and 
his equal temper peculiarly endeared him to his friends, they 
commanded respect even from his enemies. 

CHAMPE, John, was a native of Loudon county, Virgi- 
nia. In the year 1776, at the age of twenty-four, he entered 
the revolutionary army, and was appointed a sergeant major 
in Lee's legion of cavalry. After the detection of Arnold's 
treason, and the capture of major Andre, the commander in 



H CHAMPE. 

chief received frequent intelligence that many American Offi- 
cers, and one brigadier general, high in his confidence, were 
implicated in the guilt of that conspiracy. He consulted with 
major Lee on the subject, submitted to his inspection the pa- 
pers detailing this alarming intelligence, and desired his 
opinion on the subject. Major Lee endeavored to calm his 
apprehensions, and represented this, as an artifice which the 
British general had adopted to weaken the confidence of the 
commander in chief in his subordinate officers, and to sow the 
seeds of discord in the American camp. Washington observ- 
ed, that the same thought had occurred to him: but as these 
remarks applied with equal force to Arnold before his deser- 
tion, he was determined on probing this matter to the bottom. 
He proceeded to say, that what he had then to communicate 
was a subject of high delicacy, and entire confidence. He 
wished major Lee to recommend some bold and enterprising 
individual from the legion he commanded, who should pro- 
ceed on that very night to the enemy's camp, in the character 
of a deserter. He was to make himself known to one or two 
of Washington's confidential agents in New-York, to obtain, 
through their means, the most authentic evidence of the inno- 
cence or guilt of the American officers suspected, and trans- 
mit the result to major Lee. Another part of his project was 
to seize the traitor and to bring him alive to the American 
camp; but the orders were positive not to put him to death, 
and to suffer him to escape, if he could not be taken by any 
other means. His public punishment was all that Washing- 
ton desired. He flattered himself that by Arnold's arrest he 
would be enabled to unravel this conspiracy, and save the life 
of the unfortunate Andre. When major Lee sounded Champe 
on this business, the heroic scrjeant replied, that if any means 
could be devised by which he could testify his devotion to his 
country, and his attachment to his commander in chief, com- 
patible with honor, he would cheerfully endure any personal 
risk: but his soul abhorred the thoughts of desertion. Major 
Lee with much difficulty succeeded in convincing him, that in 
no other way could he render so important a service to his 
country, and he was at last prevailed upon to undertake this 
hazardous service. After being furnished with his instruc- 
tions, which he hastily took down in a character, or rather 
cipher of his own, (for he was not permitted to carry written 
orders,) his difficulty was to pass the American lines. The 
major was unable to promise him any protection, as this 
would seem to countenance the plot, and to favor the desertion 
of others, and the enemy might moreover, obtain intelligence 
by that means, discover and defeat his object, and he himself 
suffer the ignominious death of a spy. The serjeant at length 



CHAMPE* s 8S 

departed* and about half an hour afterwards, the colonel was 
informed that one of the patroles had fallen in with a dragoon, 
who being challenged put spurs to his horse, and escaped. 
Lee made light of the intelligence, and scouted the idea that a 
dragoon belonging to his legion should desert. It was proba- 
bly, he said, a countryman, who was alarmed at the challenge, 
and might easily in the night time be mistaken for one of his 
men. Orders were at length given, to examine the squadron. 
This command was promptly obeyed, and produced a confir- 
mation of the first intelligence, with the further tidings that 
this individual was no other than the sergeant major: as nei- 
ther himself, his baggage, or his horse were to be found. Lee 
now made lighter* than ever of the report; enlarged on the 
former services of the sergeant, and his known and tried fide- 
lity. He said that he had probably followed the pernicious ex- 
ample set by his superior officers, who. in defiance of their 
orders, peremptory as they were, occasionally quitted the 
Camp, and were never suspected of desertion. All these pre- 
texts having been exhausted, written orders were at length 
issued, in tiie usual form. "Pursue as far you can, sergeant 
Champe, suspected of desertion ; bring him alive that he may 
suffer in the presence of the army ; but kill him if he resists, 
or escapes after being taken." Before the pursuing party set 
out, major Lee directed the commanding officer to be changed, 
which allowed a little more time to the fugitive. Pursuit 
was at length made, and continued with such eagerness, that 
Champe escaped at the distance only of three hundred yards. 
The British galleys were lying below Powle's hook; Champe 
called to them for protection, and leaving his horse and bag- 
gage, plunged into the river sword in hand. One of the gal» 
leys despatched a boat to his assistance, and fired on his pur- 
suers, by which means Champe gained the shore without in- 

3 U1 T- 

Washington was highly pleased with the result of this ad- 
venture. The eagerness of the pursuit he thought would be 
decisive evidence to the British commander, that this was a 
real, and not a feigned desertion. Champe was immediately 
brought before sir Henry Clinton, and questioned by him on a 
variety of subjects, and amongst the rest, if any American offi- 
cers were suspected of desertion and -who those officers were. The 
sergeant was forwarned on this point, and gave such answers 
as would more effectually mislead. After this examination he 
was consigned to the care of general Arnold, and by him re« 
tained in his former rank. Washington hoped and believed, 
that the trial of Andre would occupy much time, and enable 
Champe to accomplish his designs. That gallant officer, 
disdaining all subterfuge, completely foiled this hope., by 

19 



<W CHAMPE. 

broadly confessing the nature of his connection with Arnold- 
The commander in chief offered to exchange Andre for Arnold, 
a proposal sir Henry Clinton, for obvious motives, declined. 
Had this gallant officer protracted his trial, and the plot 
proved successful, the life of Andre would have been saved, 
not by the intrigues of sir Henry Clinton, but of Washington 
in his favor. The honest and precipitate intrepidity of th&> 
British officer, defeated this benevolent project, and no alter- 
native remained but a speedy death. The sergeant, unfortu- 
nate as he was in this, was more successful in obtaining evi- 
dence the most full and satisfactory, that the suspicions rest- 
ing on several American officers were foul calumnies, and a 
forgery of the enemy. He now determined on making one 
bold attempt for the seizure of Arnold. Having been allow- 
ed, at all times, free access to Arnold, marked all his babits 
and movements, be awaited only a favorable opportunity for 
the execution of his project. He had ascertained that Ar- 
nold usually retired to rest about twelve, and that previous 
to this, he spent some time in a private garden, adjoining his 
quarters. He was there to have been seized, bound, and gagged, 
and under the pretext that he was a soldier in a state of 
intoxication, to have been conveyed through bye-paths and 
unsuspected places, to a boat lying in readiness, in the rive? 
Hudson. Champe engaged two confederates, and major Lee, 
who co-operated in the plan, received timely intelligence of 
the night fixed on for its execution. At the appointed time, 
that officer, attended by a small party well mounted, laid in 
wait the other side of the Hudson with two spare horses, one 
for Champe and the other for Arnold. The return of da> light 
announced the discomfiture of the plan, and Lee and his party 
returned to the camp with melancholy forebodings, that the 
life of the gallant sergeant had been sacrificed to his zeal in 
the service of his country. Consoling, however, was the in- 
telligence shortly after received from the confederates, that 
on the night preceding the one fixed on for Arnold's arrest, 
that officer had shifted his quarters. It appeared that he was 
employed to superintend the embarkation of certain troops, 
composed chiefly of American deserters, and it was appre- 
hended, that unless they were removed from their barracks, 
which were adjacent to the shore, many might seize that op- 
portunity to escape. This attempt was never afterwards re- 
newed. On the junction of Arnold with lord Cornwallis, in 
Virginia, the sergeant found means to elude the vigilance of 
the British lines, and to reach in safety the army of general 
Greene. Having been furnished by that officer with the 
means of escaping to Washington's camp, he arrived thers 
to the astonishment and joy of his old confederates in arms. 



CHRYSTIE. 91 

When Washington assumed the command of the army un- 
der president Adams, he caused strict inquiry to he made for 
the man who had so honorably distinguished himself, iutenoV 
ing to honor such tried fidelity with military promotion, and 
heard, to his great sorrow, that he had died hut a short time 
before, in the state of Kentucky. These facts are taken and 
condensed from the interesting manuscript of major general 
Lee. 

CHRYSTIE, James, was born in or near Edinburgh, in the 
year 1750. He migrated to the state of Pennsylvania, in the 
year 1775. In 1776, he offered himself a candidate for a 
military commission in our revolutionary army. Such was 
his modest diffidence, that although he could have had a com- 
pany, he preferred a first lieutenancy, as he considered him- 
self a noviciate in military tactics. In 1777, he was pro- 
moted to the command of a company. This command he held, 
with high reputation, until the end of the war. He was then 
the oldest captain, (except one.) in the Pennsylvania line. 

On the discovery of Arnold's plot, at West Point, general 
Washington sent for captain Chrystie, and told him he had se- 
lected him for the speedy performance of a very important 
piece of service, on horseback. You shall have two light- 
horsemen to accompany you. "I shall be ready, and wait 
upon your excellency in a very short time for your orders." 
■" Captain Chrystie, you are to receive no written orders from 
me. The business is, that you proceed with all possible ex- 
pedition to West Point, and examine particularly the state of 
that garrison, in every respect: and to visit all the interme- 
diate posts, for the same purpose. Make this known to no 
one but the commanding officer at each post ; and you are to 
enjoin on them the secrecy of the grave; commit nothing to 
writing." 

Here the general paused — "Has your excellency any further 
orders?" interrupted captain Chrystie. ''Yes," replied the 
general, "one, and a very serious one: that is, captain 
Chrystie, that on this occasion, you are not to let me hear oi" 
your being taken prisoner. Do you understand me?" "Per- 
fectly well, sir," replied captain Chrystie, "you shall not 
hear of that event." 

He set out with the two light-horsemen : two of the horses 
became unable to go within some miles of West Point. He 
took the best of three, and proceeded alone, and returned to 
head quarters in so short a time, that general Washington 
supposed, at first sight, he had been interrupted in his journey 
by the enemy, but captain Chrystie made such report as soon 
set the anxions mind of general Washington in perfect tran- 
quility. 



£A CLARKE. 

Captain Ghrystie was a perfect military man. He was- 
valiant without pride ; victorious without cruelty ; im'efati- 
gahle without avarice ; a soldier without vice ; and a chris- 
tian without bigotry. He was modest and unassuming, yet 
firm as the brazen wall. 

Lieutenant colonel James Crystic, of the 15th regiment, 
United States infantry, and one of the brave men who earned 
a name at the battle of Queenston, in the late war with Great 
Britain, was a son of captain Chrystie. He is also deceased. 
CLARK\, George, Rogers, colonel in the service of 
Virginia, against the Indians in the revolutionary war, was 
among the best soldiers, and better acquainted with the Indian 
warfare than any officer in the army. While his countrymen 
on the sea-board were contending with the British regulars, 
he was the efficient protector of the people of the frontiers of 
Virginia and Pennsylvania from the inroads of the savages. 
The history of his exploits would fill a volume: and for hair- 
breadth escapes and hardy enterprize, would hardly have a 
parallel. We are only enabled to give an extract: 

" The legislature of Virginia claiming the country con- 
quered by colonel Clark, comprehended it within the new coun- 
try, which they erected by tiro name of Illinois. A regiment 
of infantry, and one troop of cavalry, were voted for its pro- 
tection; the command of which was given to colonel Clarke; 
whose former regiment was dissolved, by the expiration of 
its term of service; and who well merited this new expression 
of public confidence, by the entire success of his late enter- 
prises; by his known courage; by his uncommon hardihood; 
by his military talents; and by his singular capacity for In- 
dian warfare. 

"The families who came to the Falls of Ohio with colonel 
Clarke, in 1778, were the first settlers at that plare. Con- 
sidering their exposed situation on the extremity of Kentucky, 
detached seventy miles from the other settlements, and in the 
vicinity of several hostile tribes of Indians, and British posts, 
it was deemed expedient to erect their first cabins on the prin- 
cipal island in the falls, and there they made corn in that 
year. 

"Greatly were these adventurers interested in the success oi' 
colonel Clarke's expedition. Nor was it long before they 
heard of the fall of Kaskaskias. Pleasing as was this intel- 
ligence, it did not afford to them the wanted security. 

"There was yet post St. Vincents, more immediately in their 
neighborhood, and replenished with Indians. The capture of 
this place was to them the mandate of liberation from theiL* 
insular situation, and an invitation to remove to the Kentucky 
shore. Hence the origin of the settlement at the site c$ 
Louisville* 






CLARKE. s>3 



*<A stand being once made at the Falls, and the garrison 
freed from the contracted and inconvenient limits of the island, 
aooii accumulated strength from accession of numbers, and 
importance from its becoming the residence of colonel Clarke, 
with his regiment. 

"The year 1779 early felt in various ways, the effect of co- 
lonel Clarke's expedition and success ; a general confidence 
prevailed in the country, which extended itself abroad; and 
while it brought more emigrants into Kentucky, it encouraged, 
an extension of the settlements. About the first of April, a 
block-house was built where Lexington now stands, and a new 
settlement began there under the auspices of Robert Patterson, 
who may be considered an early and meritorious adventurer, 
much engaged in the defence of the country; and who was af- 
terwards promoted to the rank of colonel. Several persons 
raised corn at the place that year, and in the autumn. John. 
Morrison, afterwards a major, remo\ed his family from liar- 
rodsburg, and Mrs. Morrison was the first white woman at 
Lexington; so named to commemorate the battle at Lexing- 
ton, the first which took place in the war of the revolution. 

•'In this year, colonel Clarke descended the Ohio, with a part 
of his regiment, and after entering the Mississippi, at the first 
high land on the eastern bank, landed the troops, and built 
Fort Jefferson. 

"In a military view, this position was well chosen; and had 
it been well fortified, and furnished with cannon, would have 
commanded the river. Without a doubt, at some future day, 
it will be a place of great importance in the western country. 
It is within the limits of Kentucky, and never should be 
alienated. A suitable garrison at that place, should it ever 
be necessary, would hold in check both the upper and lower 
Mississippi. 

"In 1781, colonel Clark received a general's commission, 
and had the chief command in Kentucky. A row galley 
was constructed under his direction, which was to ply up and 
down the Ohio, as a moving battery for the north-western 
frontier, and which is supposed to have had a very good effect 
in frightening the Indians, for none dared to attack it ; nor 
were they so free as theretofore in crossing the river: indeed, 
there is a tradition, that its passage up the Ohio, once as fai- 
ns the mouth of Licking, had the effect to stop an expedition, 
which a formidable party of Indians had commenced against 
Kentucky." 

The character of this veteran is well developed in the fol- 
lowing extract, recently published, from the " Notes of an old 
pfficer:" 

"The Indians came into the treaty at fort Washington in 



94 CLARKE. 

the most friendly manner ; except the Shawahanees ; the most 
conceited and most warlike of the aborigines ; the first in at a 
battle ; the last at a treaty. Three hundred of their finest 
warriors, set off in all their paint and feathers, filed into the 
council house. Their number and demeanor, so unusual at 
an occasion of this sort, was altogether unexpected and sus- 
picious. The United States' stockade mustered seventy men. 

" In the centre of the hall, at a little table, sat the Com- 
missary General Clarki, the indefatigable scourge of these 
very marauders ; General Richard Butler, and Mr. Par- 
sons; there were present also, a Captain Denny, who, I 
believe, is still alive, and can attest this story. On the part 
of the Indians an old council sachem and a war chief took the 
lead : the latter, a tall raw-boned fellow, with an impu- 
dent and villanous look made a boisterous and threatening 
speech, which operated effectually on the passions of the In- 
dians, who set up a prodigious whoop at every pause. He con- 
cluded by presenting a black and white wampum ; to signify 
they were prepared for either event, peace or war. Clarke 
exhibited the same unaltered and careless countenance he had 
shown during the whole scene, his head leaning on his left 
hand, and his elbow resting on the table : he raised his little 
cane and pushed the sacred wampum off the table with very 
little ceremony, every Indian at the same moment started from 
his seat with one of those sudden, simultaneous, and peculiary 
savage sounds, which startle and disconcert the stoutest heart, 
and can neither be described nor forgotten. 

"Parsons, more civil than military in his habits, was poor- 
ly fitted for an emergency that probably embarrassed even the 
hero of Saratoga; the brother and father of soldiers. At 
this juncture Clarke rose, the scrutinizing eye cowered at 
his glance ; lie stamped his foot on the prostrate and insulted 
symbol, and ordered them to leave the hall. They did so, 
apparently involuntarily. 

*'They were heard all that night debating in the bushes 
near the fort. The raw-boned chief was for war, the old 
sachem for peace : the latter prevailed ; and the next morn- 
ing they came back and sued for peace." 

General Clarke died at his seat, at Locust Grove, near Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, on the 13th of February, 1817, in the sixty- 
sixth year of his age. He had justly acquired the appellation of 
the father of the western country. A newspaper in his imme- 
diate neighborhood, thus feelingly noticed his death: 

" Could our feeble talents enable us to delineate the distin- 
guished acts of patriotism, of valour, and philantrophy, that 
characterised the existence of this illustrious chief, what a 
spectacle would we present to the admiring world ! While 



CLINTON. 95 

basking in the sunshine of wealth and political glory, can we 
be unmindful that these are the proud trophies bequeathed us 
by the toils and valor of this illustrious man ? Early in life he 
embarked in the cause of his country. This western country 
was the great theatre of his actions. Bold and enterprising, 
he was not to be dismayed by the dangers and difficulties that 
threatened him, by a force in number far his superior, and re- 
moved to a region never before trodden by a civilized Ameri- 
can. He estimated the value of its favorable result; he relied 
on his skill and courage; he knew the fidelity of his little band 
of associates, and, for him, it was enough. With this little 
band of Spartans he is seen piercing the gloom of the seques- 
tered forests, illuminating them in quick succession with the 
splendour of his victories, and early inviting his countrymen 
to a residence his courage and skill had purchased for them." 

CLINTON, James, was the fourth son of colonel Charles 
Clinton, and was born on Thursday, the 9th of August, 17S6, 
at the house of his father, in Ulster county, in the colony of 
New York. In common with his brothers, he was favoured 
with an excellent education. The study of the exact sciences 
was his favourite pursuit ; but the predominant inclination of 
}iis mind was to a military life. 

In the critical and eventful affairs of nations, when their 
rights and their interests are invaded, and when the most dar- 
ing attempts are made to reduce them to domestic tyranny or 
foreign subjugation, Providence, in the plenitude of its benefi- 
cence, has generally provided men qualified to lead the van of 
successful resistance, and has infused a redeeming spirit into 
the community, which enabled it to rise superior to the cala- 
mities that menaced its liberty and prosperity. The charac- 
ters designed for these important ends, are statesmen and sol- 
diers. The first devise plans in the cabinet, and the second 
execute them in the field. At the commencement of the Ame- 
rican revolution, and during its progress to a glorious con- 
summation, constellations of illustrious men appeared in the 
councils and the armies of the nation, illuminating by their 
wisdom, and upholding by their energy : drawing forth the 
resources, and vindicating the rights of America. In defiance 
of the most appalling considerations, liberty or death was in- 
scribed on the heart of every patriot; and, drawing the sword, 
he consecrated it to the cause of heaven and his country, 
and determined to die or to conquer. 

Amidst the gallant soldiers, whose services were demanded 
by the emergencies of the American revolution, James Clin- 
ton, the subject of this memoir, was always conspicuous. To 
an iron constitution and invincible courage, he added the mili- 
tary experience which he acquired in the war of 1756, where 



B6 CLINTON. 

he established las character as an intrepid and skilful officer? 
and the military knowledge which he obtained after the peace 
of 1763, by a close attention to the studies connected with his 
favourite profession. 

On the Slst of January, 1756, he was appointed by go- 
vernor sir Charles Hardy, an ensign in the second regiment 
of militia, for the county of Ulster; on the 25th March, 1758, 
b} lieutenant governor Delancey, a lieutenant of a company 
in the pay of the province of New York: on the 7th March, 
1759, by the same lieutenant governor, a captain of a com- 
pany of provincial troops; and in the three following years 
he was successively re-appointed to the same station. On the 
15th November, 1763, he was appointed by lieutenant go- 
vernor Colden, captain commandant of the four companies 
in the pay of the province of New York, raised for the 
defence of the western frontiers of the counties of Ulster, 
and Orange, and captain of one of the said companies; 
and on the 18th March, 1774, lieutenant colonel of the second 
regiment of militia, in Ulster county. This detail is entered 
into not from a spirit of ostentation, but to show that he rose 
gradually, and from step to step in his profession: not by in- 
trigue, for he had none; nor by the influence of his family, for 
they were generally in opposition to the administration; but 
by the force of merit, developing itself in the progress of 
time, and by the entire confidence justly reposed in his in- 
tegrity, courage, and skill. 

In the war of 1756, commonly denominated the French 
war, he encountered, with cheerfulness, the fatigues and dan- 
gers of a military life. He was a captain under colonel Brad- 
street, at the capture of fort Frontenac, and he rendered es- 
sential service in that expedition in many respects, and par* 
ticularly by the capture of a sloop of war on lake Ontario, 
which impeded the progress of the army. His company was 
placed in row-gallies, and, favored by a calm, compelled the 
French vessel to strike after an obstinate resistance. His de- 
signation as captain commandant of the four companies, rais- 
ed for the protection of the western frontiers of the counties 
of Orange and Ulster, was a post of great responsibility and 
hazard, and demonstrated the confidence of the government. 
The safety of a line of settlements, extending at least fifty 
miles, was intrusted to bis vigilance and intrepidity. The 
ascendency of the French, over the ruthless savages, was al- 
ways predominant, and the inhabitant of the frontiers was' 
compelled to hold the plough with one hand, for his susten- 
ance, and to grasp his gun with the other for his defence; and 
he was constantly in danger of being awakened, in the hour 
of darkness, by the war-whoop of tlie savages, to witness the 
conflagration of his dwelling and the murder of his family. 



CLINTON. 97 

After the termination of the French war, Mr. Clinton mar- 
ried Mary De Witt, a young lady of extraordinary merit, 
whose ancestors emigrated from Holland, and whose name 
proclaims their respectability; and he retired from the camp 
to enjoy the repose of domestic life. 

When the American Revolution was on the eve of its com- 
mencement, he was appointed on the 30th June, 1775, by the 
continental congress, colonel of the third regiment of New 
York forces. On the 25th of October following he was ap- 
pointed by the provincial congress of New York, colonel of 
the regiment of foot in Ulster county; on the Sth of March, 
1 776, by the continental congress, colonel of the second bat- 
talion of New York troops; and on the 9th of August, 1776, 
a brigadier general in the army of the United States; in which 
station he continued during the greater part of the war, hav- 
ing the command of the New York line, or the troops of that 
state; and at its close he was constituted a major general. 

In 1775, his regiment composed part of the army under 
general Montgomery, which invaded Canada.- and he partici- 
pated in all the fatigues, dangers and privations, of that ce- 
lebrated but unfortunate expedition. 

In October, 1777, he commanded at fort Clinton, which, 
together with its neighbour, fort Montgomery, constituted the 
defence of the Hudson river, against the ascent of an enemy. 
His brother, the governor, commanded in chief at both forts* 
Sir Henry Clinton, with a view to create a diversion in fa- 
vour of general Jiurgoyne, moved up the Hudson with an army 
of tour thousand men, and attacked those works, which were 
very imperfectly fortified, and only defended by five hundred 
men, composed principally of militia. After a most gallant 
resistance, the forts were carried by storm. General Clin- 
ton was the last man who left the works, and not until he 
was severely wounded by the thrust of a bayonet; pursued 
and fired at by the enemy, and his attending servant killed. 
He bled profusely, and when he dismounted from his war 
horse, in order to effect his escape from the enemy, who were 
close on him, it occurred to him that he must either perish on 
the mountains or be captured, unless he could supply himself 
with another horse; an animal which sometimes roams at 
large in that wild region* In this emergency, he took the 
bridle from his horse, and slid down a precipice of one bun 
dred feet to the ravine of the creek which separated the forts, 
and feeling cautiously his way along its precipitous banks, he 
reached the mountain at a distance from the enemy, after hav- 
ing fallen into the stream, the cold water of which arrested a 
copious effusion of blood. The return of light furnished him 
with the sight of a horse, which conveyed him to his house- 

13 



98 CLINTON. 

about sixteen miles from the fort, where he arrived about 
noon, covered with blood, and labouring under a severe fever. 
In his helpless condition the British passed up the Hudson, 
within a few miles of his house, and destroyed the town of 
Kingston. 

The cruel ravages and horrible irruptions of the Iroquois, 
or six nations of Indians, on our frontier settlements, render- 
ed it necessary to inflict a terrible chastisement, which would 
prevent a repetition of their atrocities. An expedition was ac- 
cordingly planned, and the principal command was committed 
to general Sullivan, who was to proceed up the Susquehanna, 
with the main body of the army, while general Clinton was 
to join him by the way of the Mohawk. 

The Iroquois inhabited, or occasionally occupied that im- 
mense and fertile region which composes the western parts 
of New York and Pennsylvania, and besides their own rava- 
ges, from their settlements to the inhabited parts of the United 
States, they facilitated the inroads of the more remote In- 
dians. When general Sullivan was on his way to the Indian 
country, he was joined by general Clinton with upwards of 
sixteen hundred men. The latter had gone up the Mohawk 
in batteaux, from Schenectady, and after ascending that river 
about fifty-four miles, he conveyed his batteaux from Cana* 
joharie to the head of Otsego lake, one of the sources of the 
Susquehanna. Finding the stream of water, in that river, 
too low to float his boats, he erected a darn across the mouth 
of the lake, which soon rose to the altitude of the dam. Having 
got his batteaux ready, he opened a passage through the dam 
for the water to flow. This raised the river so high, that he 
was enabled to embark all his troops : to float them down to 
Tioga, and to join general Sullivan in good season. The In- 
dians collected their strength at Newton : took possession 
of proper ground and fortified with judgment, and on the 29th 
August, 1779, an attack was made on them; their works 
were forced, and their consternation was so great, that they 
abandoned all further resistance ; for, as the Americans ad- 
vanced into their settlements, they retreated before them with- 
out throwing any obstructions in their way. The army passed 
between the Cayuga and Seneca lakes, by Geneva and Canan- 
daigua, and as far west as the Genessee river, destroying large 
settlements and villages, and fields of corn ; orchards of fruit 
trees and gardens abounding with esculent vegetables. The pro- 
gress of the Indians in agriculture, struck the Americans with 
astonishment. Many of their cars of corn measured twenty-two 
inches in length. They had horses, cows, and hogs, in abun- 
dance. They manufactured salt and sugar, and raised the best of 
apples and peaches, and their dwellings were large and com- 



CLINTON. 99 

modious. Tlie desolation of their settlements, the destruction 
of their provisions, and the conflagration of their houses, 
drove them to the British fortress of Niagara for subsistence, 
where, living on salt provisions, to which they were unac- 
customed, they died in great numbers, and the effect of this 
expedition, was to diminish their population ; to damp their 
ardour ; to check their arrogance ; to restrain their cruelty, and 
to inflict an irrecoverable blow on their resousces of extensive 
aggression. 

For a considerable portion of the war, general Clinton was 
stationed at Albany, where he commanded, in the northern 
department of the union, a place of high responsibility, and 
requiring uncommon vigilance and continual exertion. An 
incident occurred, when on this command, which strongly il- 
lustrates his character. A regiment, which had been ordered 
to inarch, mutinied under arms, and peremptorily refused 
obedience. The general, on being apprised of this, immedi- 
ately repaired with his pistols to the ground: he went up to 
the head of the regiment, and ordered it to march: a silence 
ensued, and the order was not complied with. He then pre- 
sented a pistol to the breast of a sergeant, who was the ring- 
leader, and commanded him to proceed on pain of death ; and 
so on in succession along the line, and his command was, in 
every instance, obeyed, and the regiment restored to entire 
and complete subordination and submission. 

General Clinton was at the siege of Yorktown and the cap- 
ture of Cornwallis, where he distinguished himself by his 
usual intrepidity. 

His last appearance, in arms, was on the evacuation of 
the city of New York by the British. He then bid the com- 
mander in chief a final and affectionate adieu, and retired to 
his ample estates, where he enjoyed that repose which was re- 
quired by a long period of fatigue and privation. 

He was, however, frequently called from his retirement by 
the unsolicited voice of his fellow-citizens, to perform civic 
duties. He was appointed a commissioner to adjust the boun- 
dary line between Pennsylvania and New York, which im- 
portant measure was amicably and successfully accomplished. 
He was also selected by the legislature for an interesting 
mission to settle controversies about lands in the west, which 
also terminated favourably. He represented his native county 
in the assembly and in the convention that adopted the present 
constitution of the United States, and he was elected, without 
opposition, a senator from the middle district; all which trusts 
he executed with perfect integrity, with solid intelligence, and 
with the full approbation of his constituents. 

The temper of general Clinton was mild and affectionate. 



100 CLINTON. 

but when raised by unprovoked or unmerited injury, lie exui 
bited extraordinary and appalling energy. In battle he was 
as cool and as collected as if sitting by his fireside. Nature 
intended him for a gallant and efficient soldier, when she en- 
dowed hi in with the faculty of entire self-possession in the 
midst of the greatest dangers. 

He died on the 22d of December, 1812, and was interred in 
the family burial place in Orange county, and his monumental 
stone bears the following inscription: 

"Underneath are interred the remains of James Clinton, 
Esquire. 

"He was born the 9th of August, 1736; and died the 22d 
of December, 1812. 

" His life wag principally devoted to the military service of 
his country, and he had filled with fidelity and honour, several 
distinguished civil offices. 

" He was an officer in the revolutionary war, and the war 
preceding: and, at the close of the former, was a major gene- 
ral in the army of the United States. He was a good man, 
and a sincere patriot, performing, in the most exemplary man- 
ner, all the duties of life: and he died, as he lived, without 
fear, and without reproach." 

CLINTON, George, formerly governor of the state of 
New York, and vice-president of the United States, was born 
on the 26th July, 1739, in the county of Ulster, in the colony 
of New York. He was the youngest son of colonel Charles 
Clinton, an emigrant from Ireland, and a gentleman of dis- 
tinguished worth and high consideration. 

He was educated, principally, under the eye of his father, 
and received the instruction of a learned minister of the pres 
byterian church, who had graduated in the university of Aber- 
deen : and, after reading law, in the office of William Smith. 
afterwards chief justice of Canada, he settled himself in that 
profession in the county of his nativity, where he rose to emi- 
nence. 

In 1768, he took his seat as one of the members of the coloni- 
al assembly, for the county of Ulster, and he continued an 
active member of that body until it was merged in the revolu- 
tion. His energy of character, discriminating intellect, and 
undaunted courage, placed him among the chiefs of the whig 
party; and he was always considered possessed of a superior 
inind and master spirit, on which his country might rely, as 
an assylum in the most gloomy periods of her fortunes. 

On the 22d of April, 1775, he was chosen by the provin- 
cial convention of New York, one of the delegates to the con- 
tinental congress, and took his seat in that illustrious body, 
ion the 15th of May, On the 4th of July, 1776, he was pre 



CLINTON. 101 

sent at the glorious declaration of independence, and assented 
with his usual energy and decision to that measure ; but 
having been appointed a brigadier general in the militia, and 
also in the army, the exigencies of his country, at that trying 
hour, rendered it necessary for him to take the field in person, 
and he therefore retired from congress immediately after his 
vote was given, and before the instrument was transcribed for 
the signature of the members; for which reason his name docs 
not appear among the signers. 

A constitution having been adopted for the state of New 
York, on the 20th April, 1777, he was chosen at the first elec- 
tion under it, both governor and lieutenant governor, and he 
was continued in the former office for eighteen years, by tri- 
ennial elections; when, owing to ill health, and a respect for 
the republican principle of rotation in office, he declined a re- 
election. 

During the revolutionary w T ar,he cordially co-operated with 
the immortal Washington, and without his aid, the army 
would have been disbanded, and the northern separated from 
(he southern states, by the intervention of British troops. He 
was always at his post in the times that tried men's souls: at 
one period repelling the advances of the enemy from Canada, 
and at another, meeting them in battle when approaching from 
the south. His gallant defence of fort Montgomery, with a 
handful of men, against a powerful force commanded by sir 
Henry Clinton, was equally honourable to his intrepidity and 
his skill. 

The following are the particulars of his gallant conduct at 
the storming of forts Montgomery and Clinton, in October, 
1777: 

"When the British reinforcements, under general Robert- 
son, amounting to nearly two thousand men, arrived from 
Europe, sir Henry Clinton used the greatest exertion, and 
availed himself of every favourable circumstance, to put these 
troops into immediate operation. Many were sent to suitable 
vessels, and united in the expedition, which consisted of about 
four thousand men, against the forts in the highlands. Hav- 
ing made the necessary arrangements, he moved up the North 
River, and landed on the 4th of October at Tarry-town, pur- 
posely to impress general Putnam, under whose command a 
thousand continental troops had been left, with a belief, that 
his post at Peek's- kill was the object of attack. At eight 
o'clock at night, the general communicated the intelligence to 
governor Clinton, of the arrival of the British, and at the 
same time expressed his opinion respecting their destination. 
The designs of sir Henry were immediately perceived by the 
governor, who prorogued the assembly on the following day. 



102 CLINTOJS. 

and arrived that night at fort Montgomery. The British 
troops, in the mean time, were secretly conveyed across the 
river, and assaults upon our forts were meditated to he made 
on the 6th, which were accordingly put in execution, hy at- 
tacking the American advanced party at Doodletown, ahout 
two miles and a half from fort Montgomery. The Americans 
received the fire of the British, and retreated to fort Clinton. 
The enemy then advanced to the west side of the mountain, in 
order to attack our troops in the rear. Governor Clinton im- 
mediately ordered out a detachment of one hundred men to- 
ward Doodletown, and another of sixty, with a brass field 
piece, to an eligible spot on another road. They were both 
soon attacked by the whole force of the enemy, and compelled 
to fall back. It has been remarked, that the talents, as well 
as the temper of a commander, are put to as severe a test in 
conducting a retreat, as in achieving a victory. The truth of 
this governor Clinton experienced, when, with great bravery, 
and the most perfect order, he retired till he reached the fort. 
He lost no time in placing his men in the best manner that 
circumstances would permit. His post, however, as well as 
fort Clinton, in a few minutes, were invaded on every side. In 
the midst of this disheartening and appalling disaster, he was 
summoned, when the sun was only an hour high, to surrender; 
but his gallant spirit sternly refused to obey the call. In a short 
time after, the British made a general and most desperate attack 
on both posts, which was received by the Americans with undis- 
mayed courage and resistance. Officers and men, militia and 
continentals, all behaved alike brave. An incessant fire was 
kept up till dusk, when our troops were overpowered by num- 
bers, who forced the lines and redoubts at both posts. Many 
uf the Americans fought their way out, others accidentally 
mixed with the enemy, and thus made their escape effectually; 
for, besides being favoured by the night, they knew the va- 
rious avenues in the mountains. The governor, as well as 
his brother, General James Clinton, who was wounded, were 
not taken." 

The administration of governor Clinton, was characterized 
by wisdom and patriotism. He was a republican in princi- 
ple and practice. After a retirement of five years, he was 
tailed by the citizens of the city and county of New York to 
represent them in the assembly of the state ; and to his influ- 
ence and popularity may be ascribed, in a great degree, the 
change in his native state, which finally produced the impor- 
tant political revolution of 1801. 

At that period, much against his inclination, but from mo- 
fives of patriotism, he consented to an election as governor, 
and in 1805, he was chosen Vice-President of the United 



CLINTON. 103 

States, in which office he continued until his death ; presiding 
with great dignity in the senate, and evincing by his votes 
and his opinions, his decided hostility to constructive author- 
ity, and to innovations on the established principles of repub- 
lican government. 

He died at Washington, when attending to his duties as 
Vice-president, and was interred in that city, where a monu- 
ment was erected by the filial piety of his children, with this 
inscription, written by his nephew. 

" To the memory of George Clinton. He was born in the 
state of New York on the 26th of July, 1739, and died in the 
city of Washington, on the 20th April, 1812, in the seventy- 
third year of his age. He was a soldier and statesman of the 
revolution. Eminent in council, and distinguished in war, he 
filled, with unexampled usefulness, purity and ability, among 
many other offices, those of governor of his native state, and of 
Vice-president of the United States. While he lived, his virtue, 
wisdom and valour, were the pride, the ornament, and secu- 
rity of his country : and when he died, he left an illustrious 
example of a well spent life, worthy of all imitation." 

There are few men who will occupy as renowned a place 
in the history of his country as George Clinton ; and the 
progress of time will increase the public veneration, and 
thicken the laurels that cover his monument. 

CLINTON, CnAELEs, the father of James and George Clin- 
ton, was distinguished in the colony of New York, as a gentle- 
man of pure morals, strong and cultivated intellect, great 
respectability, and extensive influence. His grand father, 
William Clinton, was an adherent of Charles the first, in the 
civil wars of England, and an officer in his army ; and after 
the dethronement of that monarch, took refuge on the continent 
of Europe, where he remained a long time in exile. He after- 
wards went secretly to Scotland, where he married and then 
passed over, for greater security, to the north of Ireland, 
where he died deprived of his patrimony, and leaving James, 
an orphan son, two years old. When James arrived to man- 
hood, he went to England to recover his patrimonial estate, 
but being barred by the limitation of an act of parliament, he 
returned to Ireland, and finally settled in the county of Long- 
ford, having married, on his visit to the country of his ances- 
tors, miss Elizabeth Smith, the daughter of a captain in 
Cromwell's army; by which connexion, he was enabled to 
maintain, at that time, a respectable standing in the country 
of his adoption. 

Charles Clinton, the subject of this memoir, was the son of 
James Clinton, and was born in the county of Longford, in 
Ireland, in 1690. In 1729, he came to a determination to 



104 CLINTON. 

emigrate to British America, and having persuaded a number 
of his relations and friends to co-operate with him, he charter- 
ed a ship for the purpose of conveying his little colonv to 
Philadelphia. By the terms of the Charter Party, the pas- 
sengers were to be liberally supplied with provisions and 
other accommodations, and the vessel was to be navigated by 
honest and skilful hands. On the 20th of May, 1729, the ship 
left Ireland. Besides his wife, he had two daughters and one 
son with him. After being at sea for some time, it was dis- 
covered that the commander of the vessel was a ruffian, and 
had probably formed a deliberate design of starving the pas- 
sengers to death, either with a view to acquire their property 
or to deter emigration. He actually killed a man, and con- 
tinued so long at sea. that the passengers were reduced to an 
allowance of half a biscuit and half a pint of water a day. 
In consequence of which many of them died, and Mr. Clinton 
lost a son and daughter. In this awful situation, the remedy 
of seizing the captain, and committing the navigation of the 
vessel to Mr. Clinton, who was an excellent mathematician, 
occurred to the passengers; but they were prevented by the 
fear of incurring the guilt of piracy, especially as they could 
not obtain the co-operation or assistance of the officers of the 
ship. They were finally compelled to give the captain a large 
sum of money as a commutation for their lives, and on the 4th of 
October, he landed them at Cape Cod. After leaving the ship, 
she was driven from her moorings in a stormy night, and lost. 
Mr. Clinton and his friends continued in that part of the coun 
try until the spring of 1731; when he removed to the county 
of Ulster, in the colony of New York, were he formed a flour- 
ishing settlement. This misconduct of the commander of the 
vessel, diverted him from his original design of settling in Penn- 
sylvania. The country which he selected was wild and un- 
cultivated ; covered with forests, supplied with streams, di- 
versified with hills and valleys, and abundant in the products 
of cultivation ; but so exposed (although only eight miles from 
the Hudson river and sixty from the city of New York) to the 
incursions of the savages, that Mr. Clinton considered it 
necessary to erect a palisade work round his house for the se- 
curity of himself and his neighbours. 

In this sequestered retreat he devoted himself to the culti- 
vation of a large farm, and he occasionally acted as a survey- 
or of land ; a profession, which at that time and since, has 
been followed by the most respectable men of this country. 
His leisure moments were devoted to study and writing Pos- 
sessed of a well selected library, and endowed with esrtraterdi- 
nary talents, he made continual accessions to hi© stores of use 
ful knowledge. 



CLINTON; 108 

Merit so distinguished, and respectability so undoubted, 
attracted the favorable notice of the government and the com- 
munity. He was soon appointed a justice of the peace, and a 
judge of the county of Ulster. In 1756, he was appointed by 
the govenor, sir Charles Hardy, lieutenant colonel of the 
second regiment of militia foot, for the county of Ulster. Our 
the 24th March, 1758, he was appointed by lieutenant gover- 
nor Delancey, a lieutenant colonel of one of the battalions of 
the regiment, in the province of New York, whereof Oliver 
Delancey, was colonel ; in which capacity he engaged in ac- 
tual service, and acted under the command of colonel Brad- 
street, at the siege and capture of fort Frontenac, (now Kings- 
ton.) on the north side of lake Ontario. In 1753, George 
Clinton, the father of sir Henry Clinton, was installed as 
governor of the colony. An intimacy took place between him 
and Mr. Clinton, in consequence of which, and their distant 
consanguinity, the latter was earnestly solicited by his name-* 
sake, to accept of a lucrative and distinguished office ; but 
preferring the charms of retirement, and the cultivation of 
literature, to the cares of public life, he declined every over- 
ture of the kind. His son George, who was named after the 
colonial governor, was honoured by his early attentions, and 
received from his friendship, the valuable office of clerk of the 
county. Mr. Clinton was also on terms of intimacy with 
several of the colonial chief magistrates, and the leading men 
of the province; and he is respectfully noticed by Smith, the 
historian of New York, for his ingenuity and knowledge. 
Besides the daughter born in Ireland, Mr. Clinton had four 1 
sons in this country. Alexander, educated in the college at 
Princeton, and afterwards a physician; Charles, also an emi- 
nent physician, and a surgeon in the army which took Ha- 
vanna, in the island of Cuba, James, a major general in the 
revolutionary army; and George, governor of the state of 
New York, and vice-president of the United States. He was 
peculiarly happy and fortunate in his children. Having de- 
voted particular attention to their education, he had the sa- 
tisfaction of seeing them possessed of the regard of their coun- 
try, and worthy of the veneration of posterity. 

He died at his place, in Ulster, now r Orange county, onth6 
19th day of November* 1773, in his eighty-third year, just in 
time to escape, at that advanced age, the cares and perplexi- 
ties of the revolution ; but foreseeing its approach, he expired 
breathing an ardent spirit of patriotism, and conjuring his 
sons, in his last moments, to stand by the liberties of America* 

Mr. Clinton possessed an uncommon genius: a penetra- 
ting understanding ; a solid judgment, and an extensive fund 
of useful and ornamental knowledge, with the affability and 

14 



; 0f> COMSTOCK. 

manners of an accomplished gentleman. His person was tall, 
erect and graceful, and his appearance impressive and digni- 
fied. If he happened to he in the company of young people, 
their first impressions would he those of awe and reverence, 
but in the course of a few minutes, he would enter into the 
most pleasing and instructive conversation, which would soon 
restore their composure, and never failed of inspiring the 
most grateful attachment and the most respectful confidence. 
He was a dutiful son ; an affectionate husband ; a kind father ; 
a good neighbour; a disinterested patriot, and a sincere Chris- 
tian. He sometimes retired from the cares of business and the se- 
vere studies of the exact sciences, and took refuge in music and 
poetry, and courted the communion of Apollo and the muses. 
The following lines, written by him on the grave of a be- 
loved and elder sister, were casually preserved, and will show 
the kinder affections which animated his bosom, and which at- 
tended him in all the relations and charities of life. 

Oh ! cans't thou know, thou dear departed shade ! 
The mighty sorrows that my soul invade, 
Whilst o'er thy mouldering grave I mourning stand. 
And view thy grave far from thy native land. 
With thee my tender years were early train'd, 
Oft have thy friendly arms my weight sustain' (1, 
And when with childish freaks or pains opprest, 
You, with soft music, lull'd my soul to rest. 

COMSTOCK, Adam, was an officer in the continental 
army, in the revolutionary war. Formed by nature, in body 
and mind, for a soldier, and glowing with the enthusiasm of 
liberty, he early entered the field, on the side of the colonies, 
in the revolutionary conflict. Enjoying the confidence of the 
illustrious Washington, he w r as soon promoted, under his aus- 
pices, to a colonelcy in the continental line of the army. 
At the signal victory of Red Bank, he was the •'officer of 
the day," and alternately commanded with general Samuel 
Smith, of Maryland, in the gallant affair of Mud Fort. On 
his retiring from the army, he received from the commander 
in chief the most flattering testimonials of his military ca- 
reer. During a great part of his life, he was the incumbent 
of various judicial offices, the duties of which he discharged 
with acknowledged ability and independence, while his par- 
liamentary labours of about twenty years, further evince the 
respectful consideration in which he was held by his fellow -ci- 
tizens. Industry, temperance, and integrity, characterized his 
private deportment. 

He died at his residence, in Saratoga county, New York, 
on the 10th of April, 1822, in the eightieth year of his age. 



CROGHAN. 10? 

CROGH AN, William, was a native of Ireland, and emi- 
grated in early life to America. He was one of those patriots, 
who raised this country to honour and to empire. During 
the whole of that memorable conflict, which resulted in the 
dismemberment of one, and the creation of another empire, he 
discharged the duties of an ardent and gallant officer. In 
the dangers, as well as in the glories of that eventful period, 
he largely participated. 

At the commencement of those troubles which preceded and 
indicated the approaching conflict, his principles and his feel- 
ings forbade him from being a disinterested spectator; he 
promptly decided not only on the cause which he should 
espouse, but determined to support that cause at the hazard of 
his fortune and his life. He entered the American army in 
the year 1776. as a captain of infantry in the Virginia line; 
soon afterwards the regiment of which his company formed a 
part, was marched to the seat of war in the north. He re- 
mained there during the whole of that period, which has ever 
been considered the most critical, as well as the most glorious 
of the war. Brandy wine, Germantown, and Monmouth, pre- 
sented successively a part of the scenes in which he was en- 
gaged. Indeed, to no officer of his rank, was a larger por 
tion of that honour due, which history and this country give 
to the exertions of the army during that appalling period. 

In the winter of 1779, a portion of the army embracing the 
whole Virginia line, was ordered to the southward. 

Here he suffered the fate, to which the whole southern army 
was devoted in South Carolina. He was among the captured 
at the unfortunate surrender of general Lincoln, at Charles- 
ton. This event was not more calamitous to the public cause, 
than it was personally afflicting to many of the officers and 
soldiers who were embraced in it; none, however, bore the 
privations and hardships incident to that capture, with more 
fortitude, than the subject of this notice. In the siege of York 
Town, he could participate only by his presence: being yet on 
his parole of honour, he could give no aid by his sword. His 
feelings, however, did not permit him to be absent. He watched 
With anxious solicitude the progress of the siege, and had the 
high satisfaction of witnessing the surrender of the British 
army, commanded by a general to whom he was himself a 
prisoner. At the close of the war, he was the senior major 
of the Virginia line. 

All those with whom in military life he was associated, as 
well those from whom it was his fortune to receive, as those 
to whom he gave command, bear willing evidence that he dis 
charged every duty of a faithful and excellent officer. 

In the spring of 1784, he went to Kentucky, and soon 



*Q8 CROPPER. 

ierwards married the lady who survives him, one of the sisters 
of the late general George Rogers Clarke. He fixed his re- 
sidence at his seat in Jefferson county, where for thirty years 
he fulfilled every duty of an independent country gentleman, 
dispensing with a most liberal and hospitable hand, the boun- 
ties with which Providence had abundantly blessed him. His 
house was the seat of hospitality and plenty; 

Major Croghan died in September, 1822, at Locust Grove, 
Jefferson county, Kentucky, in the seventieth year of his age. 

In his manners he was eminently bland and polite; no one 
excelled him in those courtesies which sweeten and polish life. 
He was, indeed, the model of a gentleman. His reputation 
for integrity was unimpeached and unimpeachable. His fa- 
mily and his friends, while they rejoice in such a life, most 
deeply mourn his death. 

CROPPER, John, embarked early in the cause of his 
country, and was chosen a captain in the ninth Virginia re- 
giment on continental establishment, when only nineteen or 
twenty years of age, and marched in December, 1776, to the 
north to join the army under the command of general Wash- 
ington. He was promoted from a captaincy in the ninth Vir- 
ginia regiment, to a major in the fifth Virginia regiment, and 
was at the battle of Brandywinc, when the fifth Virginia 
regiment was nearly cut to pieces. Major Cropper then re- 
treated with the remainder of the regiment, and lay concealed 
in some bushes on the battle ground, until near day-break of 
the same night of the engagement; between mid-night and 
day-break he stole off, and marched to Chester, with a red 
handkerchief lashed to a ramrod for colors. On Chester 
bridge, major Cropper was met by general Washington and 
general Woodford. The latter alighted from his horse, em- 
braced major Cropper, and pressed him to his bosom, and 
said, "He whom we thought was lost, is found.'* He was 
then promoted to a lieutenant colonel in the seventh Vir- 
ginia regiment, and was at the battles of Germantown 
and Monmouth courthouse. From the seventh Virginia 
regiment, he was promoted to the command of the eleventh 
Virginia regiment, by the Marquis De La Fayette, which re- 
giment he commanded until his return to Virginia, on the 30th 
of November, 1732. The day on which the preliminary ar- 
ticles of peace were signed at Paris, colonel Cropper was en- 
gaged witli commodore Whaley, in the barge Victory, in the 
Chesapeake Bay, against five British barges, under the com- 
mand of commodore Perry. At the commencement of this 
engagement, there were attached to commodore Whaley's 
squadron three other American barges, all of which ran oft' 
as soon as the engagement commenced, and left commodore 



GUSHING. 1Q9 

Whaley alone to contend with five British harges, full man- 
ned. Commodore Whaley had on hoard his barge sixty-nine 
men, principally citizens of the counties of Accomack and 
Northampton. About the middle of the engagement, commo- 
dore Whaley's magazine took fire, at which time several of 
his men were overboard, hanging by the rigging: twenty- 
nine men out of sixty-nine were killed on board commodore 
Whaley's barge, together with the commodore himself. In 
this engagement, colonel Cropper had to contend with two 
white men and one negro, all armed with cutlasses and board- 
ing pikes, and defended himself with a musket and bayonet. 
One of the colonel's antagonists struck him with a cutlass on 
the head, which nearly brought him down. In the middle of 
this individual contest, the negro discovering his young mas- 
ter to be the person with whom he and the two whitemen were 
engaged, cried out, "Save him; he is my young master!" 
General Cropper afterwards set this faithful man free, and 
settled him in the city of Baltimore. He was in the service 
of his country about forty-five years. Those who were 
acquainted with him, know how he discharged his duty in 
every station in which he was placed. He retained to the 
last hour of his life the veneration and love he bore for ge- 
neral Washington, the saviour of his country. He tried to 
imitate him in his conduct as a soldier and citizen. The 
deeds of this great, good, and illustrious American, was the 
theme of general Cropper at all times. He could not bear 
to hear the least whisper derogatory to the character of the 
best of men, and more than once has general Cropper been 
personally engaged to defend his fame. He had the honour 
to die possessed with a written document from the pen of 
this illustrious personage, which evidenced the high opinion 
he entertained of the worth of the deceased as an officer.. 
This document was treasured up as a miser would treasure 
his gold, and but few persons were permitted to read it, or 
hear it read. 

General Cropper died at his seat on Bowman's Folly, on 
the 15th of January, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 

CUSHING, Thomas, lieutenant governor of the common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, was born in the year 1725, and com- 
pleted his academical education, at the university of Cam- 
bridge, in his native state. 

While he was very young, the town of Boston called him 
to fill some of its most respectable offices, and delegated him 
as its representative to the general court. In this situation 
his patriotism, his abilities, and his faculty in dispatching busi- 
ness, led the house of Assembly to chose him their speaker, 
a place which had, for many years been filled by his father 



110 GUSHING. 

with great reputation. While he was in the chair, the contest 
with Great Britain ripened to a conclusion, and the station 
he held not only called out his exertions in the service of his 
country, hut rendered him known, wherever the cause of Amer- 
ica was patronised, and indeed throughout the European 
world. Of the two first continental congresses, which laid a 
foundation for the independence and happiness of this country, 
he was a judicious and an active member. On his return to 
his own state, he was chosen a member of the council, which 
then constituted its supreme executive. He was also appointed 
judge of the courts of common pleas, and of probate in the 
county of Suffolk, which stations he held until the adoption 
of the present constitution, when he was called to the office 
of lieutenant-governor, in which he continued until his death. 

Under arbitrary, or monarchial governments, a man's 
being appointed to, or continued in an office, is no certain evi- 
dence of his being qualified for it ; but in governments, free like 
ours, the appointment of a person for along course of years to- 
gether, to guard the interests of the people, and to transact 
their important affairs, is the most incontestible proof of his 
abilities and integrity. This observation was verified in Mr. 
Gushing. He thoroughly understood the interests of his coun- 
try, and meant invariably to pursue them. Very few men 
knew better than he, how to predict the consequences of the 
public conduct ; to balance contending parties ; to remove dif- 
ficulties ; and to unite separate and divided interests. His 
life was a state of constant exertion in the service of his coun- 
try ; its happiness was dear to him in health ; it lay near his 
heart in his last moments ; and, while he expressed a satis- 
faction in having honestly and uprightly, in every department 
he had filled, aimed at doing good, he manifested the most 
tender solicitude, for the peace and prosperity of America. 

There was a time when Mr. Cushing was considered in 
Great Britain as the leader of the whigs in this country. He 
was not esteemed so in Boston. He had less political zeal 
than Otis, or Adams, or Hancock ; but by his pleasant temper, 
his moderation, his conversing with men of different parties, 
though he sometimes was lashed by their strokes for want of 
firmness, he obtained more influence than either, except Mr. 
Hancock. The reason of his being known so much in the 
mother country was, that his name was signed to all the pub- 
lic papers, as speaker of the house. Hence he was sometimes 
exposed to the sarcasms of the ministerial writers. In the 
pamphlet of Dr. Johnson, called, "Taxation no Tyranny," 
one object of the Americans is said to be, "to adorn the 

brows of Mr. C g with a diadem." He had a rank 

among the patriots, as a sincere friend to the public good, and 



DARKE— DAVIE. Ill 

he was also a friend to religion, which he manifested by a con- 
stant attendance upon all pious institutions. 

Mr. dishing had a firm constitution, but was subject to the 
gout. It was this disorder, which deprived his country of his 
abilities, at a time, when an important change was agitating 
in her political fabric. On the 19th of February, 1788, he 
was attacked by the gout in his breast, and, on the 28th of the 
same month, he died in the sixty-third year of his age, hav- 
ing had the satisfaction to see the new federal constitution ra- 
tified by the convention of Massachusetts, a few days before 
his death. 

DARKE, William, a brave officer during the revolution- 
ary war, was born in Philadelphia county, in 1736, and when 
a boy accompanied his parents to Virginia. In the nineteenth 
year of his age, he joined the army finder general Brad dock, 
and shared in the dangers of his defeat, in 1755. In the be- 
ginning of the war with Great Britain, he accepted a cap- 
tain's commission, and served with great reputation till the 
close of the war, at which time he held the rank of major. In 
1791, he received from congress the command of a regiment 
in the army under general St. Clair, and bore a distinguished 
part in the unfortunate battle with the Indians on the 4th of 
November, in the same year. In this battle he lost a favorite 
son, and narrowly escaped with his own life. In his retire- 
ment during his remaining years, he enjoyed the confidence of 
the state, which had adopted him, and was honoured with the 
rank of major general in the militia. He died at his seat in 
Jefferson county, November 26, 1801, in the sixty-sixth year 
of his age. 

DAVIE, Richardson, William, of North Carolina, was 
born in the village of Egremont, near White Haven, in Eng- 
land, on the 20th June, 1756. 

His father, visiting South Carolina soon after the peace of 
1763, brought with him this son; and, returning to England, 
confided him to the care of the reverend William Richardson, 
his maternal uncle; who, becoming much attached to his 
nephew, not only took charge of his education, but adopted 
him as his son and heir. At the proper age, William was sent 
to an academy in North Carolina, from whence he was, after 
a few years, removed to the college of Nassau-hall in Prince- 
ton, New Jersey, then becoming the resort of most of the 
southern youth, under the auspices of the learned and re- 
spectable doctor Witherspoon. Here he finished his educa- 
tion, graduating in the autumn of 1776, a year memorable in 
our military as well as civil annals. 

Returning home, young Davie found himself shut out for a 
time from the army, as the commissions for the troops just le- 



112 BAVIE. 

vied hatl been issued. He went to Salisbury, where he conr^ 
menced the study of the law. The war continuing, contrary 
to the expectation which generally prevailed when it began, 
Davie could no longer resist his ardent wish to plant himself 
among the defenders of his country. Inducing a worthy and 
popular friend, rather too old for military service, to raise a 
troop of dragoons, as the readiest mode of accomplishing his 
wish, Davie obtained a lieutenancy in this troop. Without 
delay the captain joined the South army, and soon afterwards 
returned home on furlough. The command of the troop de- 
volving on lieutenant Davie, it was at his request annexed to 
the legion of count Pulaski, where captain Davie continued, 
until promoted by major general Lincoln, to the station of 
brigade major of cavalry. In this office Davie served until 
the affair of Stono, devoting his leisure to the acquirement of 
professional knowledge, and rising fast in the esteem of the 
general and army. When Lincoln attempted to dislodge lieu- 1 
tenant colonel Maitland from his intrenched camp on the Stono, 
Davie received a severe wound, and was removed from camp 
to the hospital in Charleston, where he was confined for five 
months. 

Soon after his recovery he was empowered by the govern- 
ment of North Carolina, to raise a small legionary corps, con- 
sisting of one troop of dragoons and two companies of mount- 
ed infantry; at the head of which he was placed with the 
rank of major. 

Quickly succeeding in completing his corps, in whose 
equipment he expended the last remaining shilling of an 
estate bequeathed to him by his uncle, he took the field, and was 
sedulously engaged in protecting the country between Char- 
lotte and Cambden, from the enemy's predatory incursions. 
On the fatal 16th of August, he was hastening with his corps 
to join our army, when he met our dispersed and flying troops. 
He nevertheless continued to advance towards the conquerer; 
and by his prudence, zeal, and vigilance, saved a few of our 
waggons and many of our stragglers. Acquainted w ith the 
movement of Sumpter, and justly apprehending that he would 
be destroyed unless speedily advised of the defeat of Gates, 
he despatched instantly a courier to that officer, communica- 
ting what had happened, performing, in the midst of distress 
and confusion, the part of an experienced captain. The 
abandonment of all the southern region of North Carolina, 
which followed this signal overthrow, and the general des- 
pondency which prevailed, is well known, and have been 
recorded ; nor have the fortunate and active services of 
major Davie been overlooked. So much was his conduct re- 
spected by the government of North Carolina, that he was- 



DAVIE. 113 

ill the course of September, promoted to the rank of colonel 
commandant of the cavalry of the state. 

In this station he was found by general Greene on assuming 
the command of the Southern army; whose attention had been 
occupied from his entrance into North Carolina, in remedy- 
ing the disorder in the quarter master and commissary de- 
partments. To the first Carrington had been called; and 
Davie was now induced to take upon himself the last, much 
as he preferred the station he then possessed. At the head 
of this department colonel Davie remained throughout the 
trying campaign which followed; contributing greatly by his 
talents, his zeal, his local knowledge, and his influence, to 
the maintenance of the difficult and successful operations 
which followed. While before Ninety-Six, Greene foresee- 
ing the difficulties again to be encountered* in consequence 
of the accession of force to the enemy by the arrival of three 
regiments of infantry from Ireland, determined to send a con- 
fidential officer to the legislature of North Carolina, then in 
session, to represent to them his relative condition, and to 
urge their adoption of effectual measures without delay, for 
the collection of magazines of provisions, and the reinforcing 
of his army. Colonel Davie was selected by Greene for this 
important mission, and immediately repaired to the seat of 
government, where he ably and faithfully exerted himself to 
give effect to the views of his general. 

The events of the autumn assuring the quick approach of 
peace, colonel Davie returned home; and having shortly af- 
terwards intermarried with miss Sarah Jones, daughter of 
general Allen Jones, of North Carolina, he selected the town 
of Halifax, on the Roanoke, for his residence; where he re- 
sumed his profession, the practice of law. 

At the bar, colonel Davie soon rose to great eminence; and 
indeed, in a few years, became one of its principal leaders 
and ornaments. He was possessed of great sagacity, pro- 
found knowledge, and masculine eloquence. His manners were 
conciliatory, but imposing and commanding. The late Alfred 
Moore, who was afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and who was a very able lawyer, as/ 
well as an excellent man, was the intimate friend of colonel 
Davie, and his rival, in their honourable career at the bar* 
Colonel Davie was appointed by the legislature of North Ca- 
rolina, to represent that respectable state in the Convention^ 
called at Philadelphia, in the year 1787. 

Being at that time a young man, he did not take a prominent 
part in the discussion which resulted in the formation of that 
constitution, which has been so severely tested, and found to 
be so admirably adapted to the government of our country 



114 DAVIE. 

Buthc there learnt the true foundations on which the govern* 
ment was laid, and the solid arguments in suppport of it. 

His name does not appear to that great instrument; the ill- 
ness of his family having called him home before the labours 
of the Convention were concluded. But when the constitution 
was submitted to the judgment of the state convention in 
North Carolina, for its adoption, he stood forth its most able 
champion, and its most ardent supporter. 

The university of North Carolina, is mainly indebted to 
iiis exertions, and to his labours, for its establishment, and 
for the assignment of permanent landed property for its sup- 
port. Colonel Davie was extremely anxious upon this sub- 
ject, and exerted the utmost powers of his persuasive and com- 
manding eloquence, to ensure success. He was deeply sen- 
sible of the extreme importance of extending, as widely as 
possible, the advantages of liberal education, that there might 
be a perpetual succession of enlightened and liberal men, qua- 
lified to administer the affairs of this great and increasing 
people with wisdom and dignity. He considered the public 
liberty insecure, and liable to be disturbed by perpetual fac- 
tions, unless education be widely diffused. 

Colonel Davie was now appointed a major general in the 
militia of North Carolina; and some time after, in the year 
1799, was elected governor of that state; the duties of which 
station he performed with his accustomed firmness and wis- 
dom. He was not, however, permitted to remain long in that 
station. His country had higher claims on his talents and 
services. 

The venerable Mr. Adams, then president of the United 
States, anxious to make one more effort to put an end to the 
differences which subsisted between this country and France, 
associated general Davie with Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. Mur- 
ray, as his ambassadors on a mission to France for that pur- 
pose. 

i Soon after his return to America, general Davie lost his 
wife, a lady of lofty mind and exemplary virtues, to whom h<? 
was greatly attached: and not long after, he took the resolu- 
tion to retire from public life, and to become a farmer on his 
own fine estate at Tivoli, beautifully situated on the Catawba 
river, in Chester district, South Carolina. 

When war took place between this country and Britain, in 
1812, General Davie was offered by the government of his 
country, a high command in the army. But his increas- 
ing infirmities admonished him not to assume duties be- 
yond his strength, which might prejudice the service, 
instead of promoting it. The wounds received in the re- 
volutionary war, and the rheumatism from long exposure 



DAVIE. 115 

during his service, became fixed on his constitution, and ren- 
dered lam incapable of those active exertions which his high 
sense of duty would have exacted from him as a commander. 
He, therefore, declined the honour offered him, after a good 
deal of hesitation. 

General Davie continued to reside at his beautiful seat, on 
the banks of the Catawba, to which travellers and visitors 
were constantly attracted by his open hospitality, his digni- 
fied manners, and elevated character. Occasionally he made 
excursions to the Warm Springs, in Buncombe county, North 
Carolina, for relief from the harassing rheumatism, which 
afflicted and wasted him. On those visits he was always 
greatly admired by the intelligent strangers who visited that 
place of resort from all the southern and south-western states. 
The affability of his deportment gave easy access to all. But 
no person approached him, however distinguished by his 
talents or character, who did not speedily feel that he was in 
the presence of a very superior man. His great and varied 
information, combined with his profound knowledge of men 
and things, made him the most interesting of companions. 
The ignorant and the learned, the weak and the wise, were 
all instructed and delighted with his conversation, which had 
an irresistible charm for all. Although no man spoke more 
plainly his opinions and sentiments on proper occasions, he 
had the art of never giving offence. 

At home, and in his own neighborhood, general Davie was 
revered with the highest filial piety. He was the friend of the 
distressed, the safe counsellor of the embarrassed, and the 
peace maker of all. His own character, free from every 
spot or stain, gave a power to his interpositions, which was 
irresistible. 

General Davie bad a deep, and even an awful sense of God 
and his providence; and was attached to the principles and 
doctrines of Christianity. But he had not attached himself, 
as an avowed member, to any particular sect. He thought 
they generally dogmatized too much, and shut the door of chris- 
tian charity too closely. He devised a proper site on his es- 
tate for the erection of a place of worship, to be erected by 
any Christian society, which should choose to put up a 
suitable building thereon. 

He was a tall man, of fine proportions; his figure erect and 
commanding; his countenance possessing great expression; 
and his voice full and energetic. Indeed his whole appear- 
ance struck the beholder at once, as indicating no ordinary 
man; and the reality exceeded the appearance. 

Such was the man who has been taken from his afflicted fa- 
mily, his friends, and his country. He met death with the 



UG DAVIDSON. 

firmness of a soldier, and of a man conscious of a life well 
spent. His memory is cherished hy his family and friends, 
with the most enthusiastic attachment. The good lie did sur- 
vives him; and he has left a noble example to the youth of his 
country, to encourage and to stimulate them in the honourable 
career of virtue and of exertion. May it be appreciated and 
followed. 

DAViDSON, William, lieutenant colonel commandant 
in the North Carolina line, and brigadier general in the mi- 
litia of that state, was the youngest son of George Davidson, 
who removed with his family, from Lancaster county, in 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1750, to Rowan county, in North 
Carolina. 

William was born in the year 1746. and was educated in a 
plain country manner, at an academy in Charlotte, the county 
town of Mecklenburg, which adjoins Rowan. 

Like most of the enterprising youth of America, Davidson 
repaired to the standard of his country, on the commencement 
of the revolutionary war, and was appointed a major in one 
of the first regiments formed by the government of North Ca- 
rolina. 

In this character, he marched witli the North Carolina 
line, under brigadier general Nash, to the main army in New 
Jersey, where he served under the commander in chief, until 
the North Carolina line was detached in November, 1779, to 
reinforce the southern army, commanded by major general 
Lincoln. Previous to this event, major Davidson was pro- 
moted to the command of a regiment, with the rank of lieu- 
tenant colonel commandant. 

As he passed through North Carolina, Davidson obtained 
permission to visit his family, from which he had been absent 
nearly three years. The delay produced by this visit saved 
him from captivity, as he found Charleston so closely invest 
ed when he arrived in its neighborhood, as to prevent his re- 
junction with his regiment. 

Soon after the surrender of general Lincoln and his army, 
the loyalists of North Carolina, not doubting the complete 
success of the royal forces, began to embody themselves for 
the purpose of contributing their active aid in the field to the 
subsequent operations of the British general. They were nu- 
merous in the western parts of the state, and especially in the 
highland settlement about Cross creek. Lieutenant colonel 
Davidson put himself at the head of some of our militia, call- 
ed out to quell the expected insurrection. He proceeded with 
vigor in the execution of his trust; and in an engagement with 
a party of loyalists near Calson's mill, he was severely 
wounded; the ball entered the umbilical region, and passed 



DAVIDSON. 117 

through his body near the kidneys. This confined him for 
eight weeks; when recovering, he instantly took the field, 
having been recently appointed brigadier general by the go- 
vernment of North Carolina, in the place of brigadier general 
Rutherford, taken at the battle of Camden. He exerted him- 
self, in conjunction with general Sumner and colonel Davie, 
to interrupt the progress of lord Cornwallis in his advance to- 
wards Salisbury, and throughout that eventful period, gave 
unceasing evidences of his zeal and firmness in upholding his 
falling country. 

After the victory obtained by Morgan at the Cowpens, Da- 
vidson was among the most active of his countrymen in as- 
sembling the militia of his district, to enable general Greene, 
who had joined the light corps under Morgan, to stop the 
progress of the advancing enemy; and was detached by 
general Greene, on the night of the last day of January, to 
guard the very ford selected by lord Cornwallis for his pas- 
sage of the Catawba river on the next morning. Davidson 
possessed himself of the post in the, night, at the head of three 
hundred men; and having placed a picquet near the shore, 
stationed his corps at some small distance from the ford. 

General Henry Lee, from whose '"memoirs of the war in 
the Southern department of the United States," we copy the 
present sketch of General Davidson, gives the following ac- 
count of the battle : 

"A disposition was immediately made to dislodge David- 
son, which the British general, O'Hara, with the guards effec- 
ted. Lieutenant colonel Hall led with the light company, 
followed by the grenadiers. The current was rapid, the stream 
waist deep, and five hundred yards in width. The soldiers 
crossed in platoons, supporting each other's steps. When 
lieutenant colonel Hall reached the middle of the river, he 
was descried by the American centinels, whose challenge and 
fire brought Davidson's corps into array. Deserted by his 
guide, Hall passed directly across, not knowing the landing 
place, which lay below him. This deviation from the common 
course rendered it necessary for Davidson to incline to the 
right ; but this manoeuvre, although promptly performed, was 
not effected until the light infantry had gained the shore. A 
fierce conflict ensued, which was well supported by Davidson 
and his inferior force. The militia at length yielded, and 
Davidson, while mounting his horse to direct the retreat, was 
killed. Our loss was small, excepting general Davidson, an 
active, zealous, and influential officer. The British lieuten- 
ant colonel Hall was also killed, with three of the light in- 
fantry, and thirty-six wounded. Lord Cornwallis's horse 
was shot under him, and fell as soon as he got upon the shore. 



118 DICKINSON. 

Leslee's horses were carried down the stream and with diffi- 
culty saved; and O'Hara's tumbled over with him in the 
water." 

The loss of brigadier general Davidson would have always^ 
been felt in any stage of the war. It was particularly detri- 
mental iu its effect at this period, as he was the chief instru- 
ment relied upon by general Greene for the assemblage of the 
militia; an event all important at this crisis, and anxiously 
desired by the American general. The ball passed through 
his breast, and he instantly fell dead. 

This promising soldier was thus lost to his country in the 
meridian of life, and at a moment when his services would 
have been highly beneficial to her. He was a man of popular 
manners, pleasing address, active and indefatigable. Ena- 
moured with the profession of arms, and devoted to the great 
cause for which he had fought, his future usefulness may be in- 
ferred from his former conduct. 

The congress of the United States, in gratitude for his ser- 
vices, and in commemoration of the sense of his worth, passed 
the following resolution, directing the erection of a monument 
to his memory. 

Resolved, That the governor and council of the state of 
North Carolina be desired to erect a monument, at the expense 
of the United States, not exceeding the value of five hundred 
dollars, to the memory of the late brigadier general David- 
son, who commanded the militia of the district of Salisbury, 
in the state of North Carolina, and was killed on the first day 
of February last, fighting gallantly in the defence of the li- 
berty and independence of these states. 

DICKINSON, John, a distinguished political writer and 
friend of his country, was the son of Samuel Dickinson, 
esquire, of Delaware. He was a member of the assembly of 
Pennsylvania, in 1764, and of the general congress, in 1765. 
In November, 1767, he began to publish his celebrated letters 
against the acts of the British parliament, laying duties on 
paper, glass, &c. They supported the liberties of his country, 
and contributed much to the American revolution. He was 
a member of the first congress, in 1774, and the petition to 
the king, which was adopted at this time, and is considered as 
an elegant composition, was written by him. 

He was the author of the declaration adopted by the con- 
gress of 1775, setting forth the causes and necessity of their 
taking up arms, which declaration was directed to be pub- 
lished by general Washington, upon his arrival at the camp 
before Boston, in July, 1775. He also wrote the second pe- 
tition to the king, adopted by the same congress, stating the 
merits of their claims, and soliciting the royal interposition 



DICKINSON. 119 

for an accommodation of differences on just principles. These 
several addresses were executed in a masterly manner, and 
were well calculated to make friends to the colonies. But 
their petition to the king, which was drawn up at the same 
time, produced more solid advantages in favour of the Ameri- 
can cause, than any other of their productions. This was, 
in a great measure, carried tli rough congress by Mr. Dickin- 
son. Several members, judging from the violence with which 
parliament proceeded against the colonies, were of opinion, 
that farther petitions were nugatory; but this worthy citizen, 
a friend to both countries, and devoted to a reconciliation on 
constitutional principles, urged the expediency and policy of 
trying, once more, the effect of an humble, decent, and firm 
petition, to the common head of the empire. The high opinion 
that was conceived of his patriotism and abilities, induced the 
members to assent to the measure, though they generally con- 
ceived it to be labour lost. 

In June, 1776, he opposed, openly, and upon principle, the 
declaration of independence, when the motion was considered 
by congress. His arguments were answered by John Adams, 
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and others, who advocated 
a separation from Great Britain. The part which Mr. Dick- 
inson took in this debate, occasioned his recal from congress, 
as his constituents did not coincide with him in political 
views, and he was absent several years. Perceiving, at 
length, that his countrymen were unalterably fixed in their 
system of independence, he fell in with it, and was as zealous 
in supporting it in congress, about the year 1780, as any of 
the members. He was president of Pennsylvania from Novem- 
ber, 1782, to October, 1785, and was succeeded in this office 
by Dr. Franklin. Soon after 1785, it is believed, he re- 
moved to Delaware, by which state he was appointed a mem- 
ber of the old congress, and of which state he was president. 

The following is an extract from an address of Congress, 
to the several states, dated May 26, 1779, which was also from 
the pen of Mr. Dickinson : 

"Infatuated as your enemies have been from the beginning 
of this contest, do you imagine they can now flatter them- 
selves with a hope of conquering you, unless you are false to 
yourselves ? 

"When unprepared, undisciplined, and unsupported, you 
opposed their fleets and armies in full conjoined force, then, 
if at any time, was conqest to be apprehended. Yet, what 
progress towards it have their violent and incessant efforts 
made ? Judge from their own conduct. Having devoted you 
to bondage, and after vainly wasting their blood and treasure 
in the dishonourable enterprise,, they deigned at length to offer 



120 DICKINSON. 

terms of accommodation, with respectful addresses, to that 
once despised body the congress, whose humble supplications, 
only for peace, liberty and safety, they had contemptuously re- 
jected, under pretence of its being an unconstitutional assem- 
bly. Nay more, desirous of seducing you into a deviation 
from the paths of rectitude, from which they had so far and 
so rashly wandered, they made most specious offers to tempt 
you into a violation of your faith given to your illustrious ally. 
Their arts were as unavailing as their arms. Foiled again, 
and stung with rage, imbittered by envy, they had no alter- 
native, but to renounce the inglorious and ruinous controversy, 
or to resume their former modes of prosecuting it. They 
chose the latter. Again the savages are stimulated to horrid 
massacres of women and children, and domestics to the mur- 
der of their masters. Again our brave and unhappy brethren 
are doomed to miserable deaths, in goals and prison-ships. 
To complete the sanguinary system, all the "extremities 
of war" are by authority denounced against you. 

" Piously endeavour to derive this consolation from their 
remorseless fury, that "the Father of Mercies" looks down 
with disapprobation on such audacious defiances of his holy 
laws; and be further comforted with recollecting, that the 
arms assumed by you in your righteous cause have not been 
sullied by any unjustifiable severities. 

"Your enemies despairing, however, as it seems, of the suc- 
cess of their united forces against our main army, have divid- 
ed them, as if their design was to harrass you by predatory, 
desultory operations. If you are assiduous in improving op- 
portunities, Saratoga may not be the only spot on this conti- 
nent to give a new denomination to the baffled troops of a na- 
tion, impiously priding herself in notions of her omnipotence. 

"Rouse yourselves, therefore, that this campaign may fin- 
ish the great work you have so nobly carried on for several 
years past. What nation ever engaged in such a contest, un- 
der such a complication of disadvantages, so soon surmount- 
ed many of them, and in so short a period of time had so cer- 
tain a prospect of a speedy and happy conclusion. We will 
venture to pronounce, that so remarkable an instance exists 
not in the annals of mankind. We well remember what you 
said at the commencement of this war. You saw the immense 
difference between your circumstances, and those of your ene- 
mies, and you knew the quarrel must decide on no less than 
your lives, liberties, and estates. All these you greatly put 
to every hazard, resolving rather to die freemen than to live 
slaves; and justice will oblige the impartial world to confess 
you have uniformly acted on the same generous principle.—- 
Consider how much you have done, and how comparatively 



DICKINSON, i£i 

little remains to be done to crown you with success. Perse- 
vere; and you insure peace, freedom, safety, glory, sovereign^ 
ty, and felicity to yourselves, your children, and your chil- 
dren's children. 

"Encouraged by favors already received from Infinite Good- 
ness, gratefully acknowledging them, earnestly imploring 
their continuance, constantly endeavoring to draw them down 
on your heads by an amendment of your lives, and a conform- 
ity to the Divine will, humbly confiding in the protection so 
often and wonderfully experienced, vigorously employ the 
means placed by Providence in your hands, for completing 
your labors. 

"Fill up your battalions; be prepared in every part to re- 
pel the incursions of your enemies; place your several quotas 
in the continental treasury; lend money for public uses; sink 
the emissions of your respective states; provide effectually for 
expediting the conveyance of supplies for your armies and 
fleets, and for your allies; prevent the produce of the country 
from being monopolized; effectually superintend the behaviour 
of public officers; diligently promote piety, virtue, brotherly 
love, learning, frugality and moderation; and may you be 
approved before Almighty God, worthy of those blessings 
we devoutly wish you to enjoy." 

He was distinguished by his strength of mind, mis- 
cellaneous knowledge, and cultivated taste, which were 
united with a habitual eloquence; with an elegance of man- 
ners, and a benignity which made him the delight as well as 
the ornament of society. The infirmities of declining years 
had detached him long before his death, from the busy scenes 
of life; but in retirement his patriotism felt no abatement. 
The welfare of his country was ever dear to him, and he was 
ready to make any sacrifices for its promotion. Unequivo- 
cal in his attachment to a republican government, he inva- 
riably supported, as far as his voice could have influence, 
those men and those measures, which he believed most friendly 
to republican principles. He was esteemed for his upright- 
ness, and the purity of his morals. From a letter which lid 
wrote to James Warren, Esquire, dated the 25th of the first 
month, 1805, it would seem that he was a member of the so- 
ciety of friends. He published a speech delivered in the 
house of assembly of Pennsylvania, 1764; a reply to a speech 
of Joseph Galloway, 1765; late regulations respecting the 
colonies considered, 1765; letters from a farmer in Pennsyl- 
vania to the inhabitants of the British colonies. 1767 — 1768, 

Mr. Dickinson's political writings were collected and pub- 
lished in two volumes 8vo. 1810. He died at Wilmington, in 
the state of Delaware, February 15, 1808, at an advanced age- 

16 



122 DICKINSON. 

DICKINSON, Philemon, was born at the seat of his 
father, near Dover, in the state of Delaware, on the 5th 
day of April, 1739, and received his education in Philadel- 
phia, under the celebrated teacher of that day, Dr. Allison* 
His father died in the year 1760, and for several years after 
that event, he continued to reside with his widowed mother, 
at the place of his birth. Having at length purchased a small 
farm in the neighborhood of Trenton, in New Jersey, he was 
there found at the commencement of the revolutionary war,, 
und was introduced into public life, as a member of the con- 
vention, which formed the constitution of that state. This 
was soon after followed by his appointment to the command 
of the militia of New Jersey. His zeal and devotion to the 
public cause, became immediately conspicuous, and engaged 
him in an enterprise, which secured to the army a collection 
of flour at that time very essential to its comfort. 

When general Washington's army was hutted near Mor- 
ristown, and labouring under that fatal malady, the small- 
pox, a line of posts was formed along the Millstone river, in 
the direction of Princeton; one of these, established at Som- 
erset court-house, was occupied by general Dickinson, with a 
few hundred men. Not very distant, and on the opposite bank 
of the stream, stood a mill, in which a considerable quantity 
of flour had been collected for the use of the troops. At this 
time lord Cornwallis lay at New Brunswick, and having re- 
ceived information of this depot, immediately despatched a 
large foraging party, amounting to about four hundred men, 
and upwards of forty wagons, drawn by imported horses, of 
the English draft breed, for the purpose of taking possession 
of it. The British troops arrived at the mill early in the 
morning, and having loaded the wagons with the flour, were 
about to march on their return, when general Dickinson, at 
the head of an inferior force, which he led through the river, 
middle deep, attacked them with so much spirit and effect, 
that they instantly fled, abandoning tiie whole of their plun- 
der. The light in which this affair was viewed by the com- 
mander in chief, will appear by the following extract of a 
letter to the president of Congress, dated Morristown, Janu- 
ary 22(1, 1777: 

"My last to you was on the 20th instant. Since that, I 
have the pleasure to inform you, that general Dickinson, with 
about four hundred militia, has defeated a foraging party of 
the enemy of an equal number, and has taken forty wagons 
and upwards of a hundred horses, most of them of the En- 
glish draft breed, and a number of sheep and cattle, which 
they had collected. The enemy retreated with so much pre- 
cipitation, that general Dickinson had only an opportunity of 



» 



DICKINSON. 123 

snaking nine prisoners. They were observed to carry off a 
great many dead and wounded in light wagons. This action 
happened near Somerset court-house, on Millstone river. 
General Dickinson's behaviour reflects the highest honour on 
him; for though his troops were all raw, he led them through 
the river, middle deep, and gave the enemy so severe a charge, 
that although supported by three field pieces, they gave way, 
and left their convoy." 

Immediately after general Dickinson had resumed his posi- 
tion on the Millstone, he waited on the commander in chief, 
for the purpose of receiving his orders. He found him ex- 
ceedingly indisposed, and his spirits much depressed, in con- 
sequence of the gloomy aspect of affairs. In the course of a 
long and confidential conversation between them, general 
Washington observed, that the continental troops with him, 
were scarcely sufficient in number to perform the ordinary 
guard duties, and that out of eleven hundred men, eight hun- 
dred were under inoculation for the small -pox. He expressed 
great solicitude, lest the enemy should become acquainted 
with his actual situation : the consequence of which might prove 
fatal to the cause of America. He particularly impressed 
upon general Dickinson, the necessity of obtaining accurate 
information of the views and movements of the enemy, and 
requested his utmost vigilance, and most active exertions to 
attain this object. 

At the close of this interview, general Dickinson returned 
to his station, where he heard with equal surprise and regret, 
that an officer of the militia had deserted to the enemy, and 
had previously obtained from the office of the adjutant gene- 
ral, an actual and correct return of the American army, 
which he delivered to lord Cornwallis, then in command at 
New Brunswick, through the medium of colonel Skinner, a 
loyalist in the service of Great Britain. In consequence of 
this information, his lordship formed the plan of an attack on 
the American army. 

General Dickinson at once saw the necesssity of endea- 
vouring to remove the impression, made by this act of trea- 
chery. Having in his employment a spy, whose want of fide- 
lity lie had recently discovered, he resolved to make use of 
him on this occasion. Fortunately, the man applied a day or 
two afterwards, for permission to visit New Brunswick. This 
was at first positively refused, and at the same time, it was 
intimated to him, as the reason of this refusal, that an im- 
portant movement was in agitation, in the execution of which 
the utmost secrecy was necessary. He was farther informed 
that the indulgence of his request at that moment, would in- 
cur the displeasure of the commander in chief. The curiosity 



m DICKINSON. 

of the man being much excited by these hints, general Dick- 
inson at length took him into a private room, and observed, 
that an opportunity Mas now afforded him of rendering his 
country a very important service, for which he should be li- 
berally rewarded. He then stated that the return, which the 
officer who had deserted had in his possession, was a forgery, 
intended to secure to himself a favourable reception from the 
enemy: also, that large bodies of troops, both from the east 
and the south, had recently arrived in the vicinity of Morris- 
town; that from the last returns, the American army, at its 
several positions, which might be readily concentrated, 
amounted to nearly twenty thousand men; and that an attack 
on the enemy was only delayed, for the purpose of making the 
necessary arrangements, already in great forwardness; add- 
ing, that as the capture of the commanding officer at Bruns- 
wick was an object of the first importance, it was material to 
ascertain particularly the situation of his quarters in the 
town, and also the force and position of the guards, out 
posts, &c. &c. 

The spy giving general Dickinson every assurance, that he 
would faithfully execute his commission, was permitted t^ 
proceed on his visit. On reaching New Brunswick, he com- 
municated, without delay, to lord Cornwallis, all that passed 
in the conversation between the general and himself, which 
Induced his lordship to relinquish his meditated attack. 

" During the fall of 1777, general Dickinson after informing 
{'himself precisely of the force and situation of the enemy on 
" Staten Island, projected another expedition against that 
"post, in the hope of being able entirely to cut off Skinner's 
"brigade of loyal Americans, which was stationed there. 
"His perfect knowledge of the country enabled him to make 
"such a disposition, as promised success, and authorized a 
"hope that his plan would be executed as formed. He col- 
" lected about two thousand men, and requested from general 
" Putnam, a diversion on the side of King's bridge, in order 
^ to prevent a sudden reinforcement from New York, 

"Knowing well that success depended on secrecy, he had 
"concealed his obiect, even from his officers, until 8 o'clock 
"of the night on which it was to be executed; yet by three in 
<5 the morning, information of the design was given to ge- 
"neral Skinner, who was thereby put on his guard: and on 
"the first alarm, he saved himself and his brigade by taking 
"refuge in some works too strong to be carried by assault. 
"In the flight, a few prisoners were made, and a few men 
"killed; after which, general Dickinson brought off his party 
<*with a loss of only three killed, and ten slightly wounded. 
" Soon after the British army reached Philadelphia, in the 



DRAYTON. 125 

" autumn of 1777; count Donop crossed the Delaware, with 
"the intention, as it was believed, of investing Red Bank, a 
-'post on the Jersey side of the river. Immediate measures 
" were taken to raise the militia of that state: this was ren- 
"dered particularly difficult at this moment, by an event by 
"no means common. The time for which the governor was 
"elected had expired, and no new election had been made, 
" The late executive, therefore, did not think itself authorised 
"to take any measures, as an executive; and had not general 
"Dickinson ventured to order out the militia, by his own au~ 
" thority, they could not have been put in motion." Marshal's 
Life of TVashington. 

General Dickinson was present at the battle of Monmouth, 
with all the militia he could assemble. He was also a member of 
the council of war, held on the night before the action. He 
there took an opportunity of representing to general Wash- 
ington, that though the militia might be less efficient in the 
field than the regular troops, yet they were capable of per- 
forming a very important part in guarding the army against 
an attack that night; by which the whole of the continental 
troops would have an opportunity of obtaining that repose they 
bo much needed ; and if the commander in chief would 
confide to them that honor, he would pledge himself that the 
camp should not be surprised. General Dickinson's offer 
was accepted, and on the following morning, before day-light, 
information was conveyed to the commander in chief, that 
the enemy had resumed his line of march. 

At the close of the war general Dickinson retired to his 
aeat on the banks of the Delaware. 

In December, 1784, congress appointed three commission- 
ers to select a spot for a federal city, on either side of the river 
Delaware, not more than eight miles above, nor eight miles 
below its lower falls. The persons chosen were Robert Mor 
ris, Esqr. general Schuyler, and general Dickinson. 

General Dickinson was a member of the senate of the Uni- 
ted States for several years, previously to the removal of con- 
gress to Washington. He died in February, 1809. 

DRAYTON, William, Henry, an ardent patriot, and a 
political writer of considerable eminence, was born in South 
Carolina, in the year 1 742. He spent his youth and acquired 
his education in England. Soon after he came to manhood, 
lie returned to Carolina, and there with inferior opportuni- 
ties, but superior industry, prosecuted his studies. In it he 
acquired the greater part of that knowledge for which he was 
afterwards distinguished. He first began to write for the pub- 
lic about the year 1769. Under the signature of "Freeman" 
he stated several legal and constitutional objections to an as- 



126 DRAYTON. 

sociation, or rather the mode of enforcing an association, for 
suspending the importation of British manufactures, which 
was then generally signed by the inhabitants. This involved 
him in a political controversy, in which he was opposed by 
Christopher Gadsden and John Mackenzie. In the year 
1774, he wrote a pamphlet under the signature of "Freeman," 
which was addressed to the American congress. In this he 
stated the grievances of America, and drew up a bill of Ame- 
rican rights. This was well received. It substantially chalk- 
ed out the line of conduct adopted by congress, then in session. 
He was elected a member of the provincial congress, which 
sat in January, 1775; and in the course of that year was ad- 
vanced to the presidency thereof. In the latter character he 
issued on the 9th of November, 1775, the first order that was 
given in South Carolina for firing on the British. The or- 
der was addressed to colonel William Moultrie, and directed 
him "by every military operation to endeavor to oppose the 
passage of any British naval armament that may attempt to 
pass fort Johnson." This was before congress had decided 
on independence, and in the then situation of Carolina, was a 
bold, decisive measure. 

Before the revolution, Mr. Drayton was one of the king's 
counsellors, and one of his assistant judges for the province. 
The first of these offices he resigned, and from the last he was 
dismissed by the officers of his Britannic majesty. On the 
formation of a popular constitution, he was reinstated in the 
corresponding offices of the state, and in the last advanced to 
the rank of chief justice. He published his charge to the 
grand jury, in April 1776, which breathes all the spirit and 
energy of the mind, which knows the value of freedom, and is 
determined to support it. 

The following is an extract from the charge 
"In short, I think it my duty to declare in the awful seat 
of justice, and before Almighty God, that in my opinion, the 
Americans can have no safety but by the Divine favour, their 
own virtue, and their being so prudent as not to leave it in the 
power of the British rulers to injure them. Indeed the ruinous 
and deadly injuries received on our side ; and the jealousies 
entertained, and which, in the nature of things, must daily 
increase against us, on the other; demonstrate to a mind, 
in the least given to reflection upon the rise and fall of em- 
pires, that true reconcilement never can exist between 
Great Britain and America, the latter being in subjection to 
the former. The Almighty created America to be indepen- 
dent of Britain : Let us beware of the impiety of being back- 
ward to act as instruments in the Almighty hand, now exten- 
ded to accomplish his purpose; and by the completion of 



DYER. 127 

'which alone, America, in the nature of human affairs, can be 
secure against the craft and insiduous designs of her enemies 
who think her prosperity and power axready by far too 
great. In a word, our piety and political safety are so 
blended, that to refuse our labours in this Divine work, is to 
refuse to be a great, a free, a pious, and a happy people ! 

"And now having left the important alternative, political 
happiness or wretchedness, under God, in a great degree in 
your own hands, I pray the Supreme Arbiter of the affairs 
of men, so to direct your judgment, as that you may act agree- 
ably to what seems to be his will, revealed in his miraculous 
works in behalf of America, bleeding at the altar of liber- 
ty." This being anterior to the declaration of independence 
was bold language. Several publications appeared from his pen, 
explaining the injured rights of his country, and encouraging 
his fellow citizens to vindicate them. He has also left a 
manuscript history of the American revolution in three folio 
volumes, brought down to the end of the year 1778, which he 
intended to continue and publish. His country, pleased with 
his zeal and talents, heaped offices upon him. He was appoin- 
ted a member of congress in 1778 and 1779- Soon after he 
had taken his seat, British commissioners came to America, 
with the hope of detaching the states from their alliance with 
France. Drayton took an active and decided part in favour 
of the measures adopted by his countrymen. His letters pub- 
lished expressly to controvert the machinations of the British 
commissioners, were considered as replete with irresistible 
arguments, and written in the best style of composition. 

He died in Philadelphia, in 1779, while attending his duty 
in congress, in the thirty-seventh year of his age. He was a 
statesman of great decision and energy, and one of the ablest 
political writers South Carolina has produced. 

DYER, Eliphaiet, distinguished for his civil and mili- 
tary employments, was born on the 28th of September, 1721, 
in Windham, Connecticut. He was educated at Yale college, 
where he received his first degree in 1740. Soon after this, 
he entered upon the study of law, which he pursued as a pro- 
fession. In 1743, when he was but twenty two years of age, 
he was appointed a justice of the peace ; and in 1745, he was 
chosen a representative of the town in the general court, and 
continued to be elected to this office, a few sessions excepted, 
until the year 17G2. At the commencement of the French 
war, in 1755, he was appointed to the command of one of the 
regiments raised by the colony of Connecticut for that ser- 
vice. He continued in the service, having the command of a 
regiment, during most of the war, and acquired considerable 
reputation as a faithful and brave officer. In 1762, he was 



12ft ELLSWORTH. 

elected a member of the Council, and continued in this situa- 
tion for several years. In 1763, he went to England, having 
been constituted the agent of the Susquehanna Company, to 
prosecute their claims in Great Britain. At this period a 
spirit of jealousy and hostility to the rising prosperity and 
the rights of the colonies, began to disclose themselves in the* 
parent country; of which, and of the ultimate policy and de- 
signs of that country, colonel Dyer discovered clear indica* 
tions, and communicated his views and apprehensions on his 
return. He was appointed a delegate from that state to the 
continental congress, holden at Philadelphia, in 1766. He 
was also appointed a delegate to the congress of 1774, which 
preceded the commencement of the revolutionary war ; and 
during the interesting period of this momentous contest, he 
was, a considerable portion of the time, a member of that 
dignified and important body. He was appointed a judge of 
the Superior Court of the state, and subsequently Chief Jus 
tice, which office he held until the year 1793, which closed a 
very protracted public life. 

He died in 1807, aged eighty-six years, having lived during 
a very interesting period of our history, and taken a part in 
many of the important events bv which it is characterized. 

ELLSWORTH, Oliver, chief justice of the Lnited States, 
was born at Windsor. Connecticut, April 29, 1745, and was 
graduated at the college in New Jersey in 1766. He soon af- 
terwards commenced the practice of the law, in which profes- 
sion he attained an acknowledged eminence. His perceptions 
were unusually rapid, his reasoning clear and conclusive, and 
his eloquence almost irresistible. In the year 1777, he was 
a delegate to the continental congress. He found himself in a 
new sphere ; but his extraordinary powers did not fail him, 
and he met the exigencies of the times without shrinking. In 
1780, he was elected into the council of his native state, and 
he continued a member of that body till 1784, when he was 
appointed a judge of the superior court. In 1787, he was 
elected a member of the convention, which framed the federal 
constitution. In an assembly, illustrious for talents, erudi- 
tion, and patriotism, lie held a distinguished place. His ex- 
ertions essentially aided in the production of an instrument, 
which, under the Divine blessing, has been the main pillar of 
American prosperity and glory. He was immediately after- 
wards a member of the state convention, and contributed his 
efforts towards procuring the ratification of that instrument. 

When the federal government was organized in 1789, he 
was chosen a member of the senate of the United States. This 
elevated station, which he filled with his accustomed dignity, 
he occupied till in March, 1796. He was then nominated by 



ELLSWORTH. 129 

president Washington, chief justice of the supreme court of 
the United States. Though his attention had been for many 
years abstracted from the study of the law, jet he presided in 
that high court with the greatest reputation. The diligence, 
with which he discharged his official duties, could be equal- 
led only by his inexhaustible patience. His charges to the 
jury were rich not only in legal principles but in moral senti- 
ments, expressed in a simple, concise style, and delivered in 
a manner, which gave them a tenfold energy and impression. 
Towards the close of the year 1799, he was appointed by 
president Adams envoy extraordinary to France for the pur- 
pose of accommodatingexisting difficulties, and settling a trea- 
ty with that nation. With much reluctance he accepted the 
appointment. In conjunction with governor Davie and Mr. 
Murray, his associates, he negociated a treaty, which, though 
it did not answer the just claims and expectation of the Ameri- 
can public, was undoubtedly the best that could be procured. 
Having accomplished the business of his embassy, he repaired 
to England for the benefit of the mineral waters, as his health 
had suffered much in his voyage to Europe. Convinced that 
his infirmities must incapacitate him for the future discharge 
of his duties on the bench, he transmitted a resignation of his 
office of chief justice at the close of the year 1800. On his re- 
turn to Connecticut, his fellow citizens, desirous of still en- 
joying the benefit of his extraordinary talents, elected him 
into the council : and in May, 1807, he was appointed chief 
justice of the state. This office, however, he declined, from 
apprehension that he could not long survive under the pressure 
of his distressing maladies, and domestic afflictions, 

Mr. Ellsworth was admired as an accomplished advocate, 
an upright legislator, an able and impartial judge, a wise and 
incorruptible ambassador, and an ardent, uniform, and inde- 
fatigable patriot, who devoted every faculty, every literary 
acquisition, and almost every hour of his life to his country*!? 
good. He moved for more than thirty years in a most con- 
spicuous sphere, unassailed by the shafts of slander. His in- 
tegrity was not only unimpeached but unsuspected. In hi? 
debates in legislative bodies, he Was sometimes ardent, but 
his ardor illuminated the subject. His purposes he pursued 
with firmness, independence, and intrepidity. In private life 
he was a model of social and personal virtie. He was just irs 
his dealings, frank in his communications, kind and obliging, 
in his deportment, easy of access to all, beloved and respected 
by his neighbors and acquaintance. Amid the varied honors 
accumulated upon him by his country, he was unassuming and 
bumble. His dress, his equipage, and mode of living, were 
regulated by a principle of republican economy; hut for tKf 

17 



130 FLOYD, 

promotion of useful and benevolent designs he communicated 
with readiness and liberality. The purity and excellence of 
his character are rare in any station, and in the higher walks 
of life are almost unknown. He died November 26, 1807, 
in the sixty third year of his age. 

FLOYD, William, one of the signers of the declaration 
of independence, was born on the 17th of December, 1734, in 
the county of Suffolk, upon Long Island. He received a li- 
beral education, and in his young days was passionately fond 
of hunting. 

He embarked, at an early period, in the controversy be™ 
iween Great Britain and the colonies, and as it grew more 
animated, became conspicuous for the zeal and ardour with 
which he espoused the popular cause. There was in his con- 
duct, both in public and private life, a characteristic sincerity 
which never failed to inspire confidence; and which, combined 
with the warmth and spirit with which he opposed the usur- 
pations of the British government, had acquired for him an 
extensive popularity. It was, doubtless, from these conside- 
rations, that he was appointed one of the delegates from New 
York to the first continental congress, which met in Phila- 
delphia, on the 5th of September, 1774. In that patriotic 
and venerable assembly, he was associated with men, whose 
names are identified with their country's birth, and will long 
be cherished in grateful remembrance. Their proceedings 
had a powerful effect in arousing the attention of the colonists, 
and in directing it to the true points on which the controversy 
with the parent country rested; they were also admirably cal- 
culated, by their moderation and firmness, to conciliate the 
minds of moderate and reflecting men. It may, perhaps, be » 
observed with truth, that with all the light which experience 
affords, the most consummate wisdom could hardly devise a 
system of measures better adapted to the situation of the co- 
lonies at that time, than those which are recorded upon the 
journals of the first continental congress. 

Previous to his attendance in Congress, Mr. Floyd had 
been appointed to the command of the militia of the county of 
Suffolk, and upon his return, he found Long Island menaced 
with an invasion from a naval force assembled in Gardiner's 
bay, with the avowed object of gathering supplies. When 
the landing of the enemy was reported to him, he promptly 
assembled the force under his command, and marched to the 
point of attack. It was, perhaps, fortunate for his little 
army, composed of raw and undisciplined militia, that the 
terror of their approach left nothing for their arms to ac- 
complish. The activity displayed, however, had an import- 
ant effect, in inducing the enemy to abandon their design. 



FLOYD. 131 

In April, If 75, having been again chosen by the provincial 
assembly of New York, a delegate to the general congress of 
the colonies, he took his seat in the second continental con- 
gress, which met in Philadelphia, on the 10th of May follow- 
ing, and continued a constant attendant for more than two 
years. As a member of this congress, general Floyd united 
with his illustrious associates in boldly dissolving the politi- 
cal bonds which connected the colonies to the British crown, 
and co-operated in the arduous and responsible task of array- 
ing them in hostility to the British empire. Under circum- 
stances of danger and distress, with difficulties almost insur- 
mountable, and embarrassments the most complicated, they 
were raised from the posture of supplication, and clothed in 
the armour of war. 

During his attendance in congress, Long Island was eva- 
cuated by the American troops, and occupied by those of 
Great Britain. His family, in consequence of this event, 
were driven from their home in great haste and confusion, 
and were removed by his friends into Connecticut. The pro- 
duce and stock of his estate were seized by the enemy, and 
the mansion-house selected as a rendezvous for a party of 
horse, by whom it was occupied during the remainder of the 
war. This event was the source of serious inconvenience to 
him, as it precluded him from deriving any benefit from his 
landed property for nearly seven years, and left him without a 
house for himself and his family. 

On the 8th of May, 1777, general Floyd was appointed a 
senator of the state of New York, under the constitution of 
the state which had then been recently adopted. On the 13th 
of May, the provincial convention passed a resolution, that 
the thanks of the convention be given to him, and his col- 
leagues, "delegates of the state of New York in the honour- 
able the continental congress, for their long and faithful 
services rendered to the colony of New York, and to the said 
state." 

On the 9th of September, 1777, he took his seat in the sen- 
ate of New York, at their first session under the new consti- 
tution. This being the first constitutional legislature since 
the colonial assembly was dissolved, it devolved upon them to 
organize the government, and adopt a code of laws, suited to 
existing circumstances. Of this body he became a leading 
and influential member, and attended in his place, with some 
short intervals, until the 6th of November, 1778, when they 
adjourned. 

On the 15th of October, 1778, he was unanimously re- 
elected a delegate to the continental congress by a joint ballot 
of the senate and assembly, and on the 2d of January follow- 



Ut FRANKLIN. 

ing, resumed his scat in that body, where he soon became 
actively employed on numerous committees, and continued in 
attendance until the 9th of June, when he obtained leave of 
absence. 

In October, 1779, he was unanimously re-elected a dele- 
gate to the continental congress, and attended in his place on 
the 2d of December. On the next day, he was elected a mem- 
ber of the board of admiralty, and on the 13th, was chosen a 
member of the treasury board. His health having become 
impaired, he applied to congress to be excused from the board 
of treasury, and he obtained leave of absence. 

In 1780, general Floyd was again elected a delegate to 
congress, and was continued a delegate, by several successive 
appointments, until the 26th of April, 1783. When he re- 
turned to his home, he found his estate despoiled of almost 
every thing but the naked soil, through the malice and cupi- 
dity of the tories, who had resorted thither for plunder. He 
now declined arc-election to congress, but by several succes- 
sive elections, continued a member of the senate of New- York 
until the year 1788, when, upon the adoption of the federal 
constitution, he was elected a member of the first congress, 
which met in New York, on the 4th day of March, 1789. At 
the expiration of his term of service, he again declined a re- 
election. 

In 1800, he was chosen one of the electors of president and 
vice president of the United States ; and he performed a jour- 
ney of two hundred miles, to vote for his early political friend 
and associate, Mr. Jefferson. 

In 1801, he was elected a member of the convention to re- 
vise the constitution of the state of New York, and, at a sub- 
sequent period, served twice as presidential elector. He was 
also appointed an elector in 1820, but from the infirmities of 
age could not leave his home. 

He died on the 4th day of August, 1821, aged eighty seven 
years. 

FRANKLIN, Benjamin, a philosopher and statesman, 
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January, 17, 1706. His 
father who was a native of England, was a soap-boiler and 
tallow-chandler in that town. At the age of eight years, 
he was sent to a grammar school, but at the age of ten his 
father required his services to assist him in his business. Two 
years afterwards, he was bound an apprentice to his brother, 
who was a printer. In this employment he made great profi- 
ciency, and having a taste for books he devoted much of his 
leisure time to reading. So eager was he in the pursuit of 
knowledge, that he frequently passed the greater part of the 
night in his studies. He became expert in the Socratic mode of 



FRANKLIN. 153 

reasoning by asking questions, and thus he sometimes embar- 
rassed persons of understanding superior to his own. In 1721, 
his hrother hegan to print the New England Courant, which 
was the third newspaper published in America. The two 
preceding papers were the Boston News Letter and Boston 
Gazette. Young Franklin wrote a number of essays for the 
Courant, which were so well received, as to encourage him 
to continue his literary labors. To improve his style he re- 
solved to imitate Addison's Spectator. The method, which 
he took, was to make a summary of a paper, after he had 
read it, and in a few days, when he had forgotten the expres- 
sions of the author, to endeavour to restore it to its original 
form. By this means he was taught his errors, and perceiv- 
ed the necessity of being more fully acquainted with the syno- 
nymous words of the language. He was much assisted also 
in acquiring a facility and variety of expression by writing 
poetry. 

At this early period the persual of Shaftsbury and Collins 
made him completely a sceptic, and he was fond of disputing 
upon the subject of religion. This circumstance caused him. 
to be regarded by pious men with abhorrence, and on this ac- 
count as well as on account of the ill treatment, which he re- 
ceived from his brother lie determined to leave Boston. His 
departure was facilitated by the possession of his indenture, 
which his brother had given him about the year 1725, not from 
friendship, but because the general court had prohibited him 
from publishing the New England Courant, and in order that 
it might be conducted under the name of Benjamin Franklin. 
He privately went on board a sloop, and soon arrived at New 
York. Finding no employment here, he pursued his way to 
Philadelphia, and entered the city without a friend and with 
only a dollar in his pocket. Purchasing some rolls at a ba- 
ker's shop, he put one under each arm, and eating a third, 
walked through several streets in search of a lodging. There 
were at this time two printers in Philadelphia, Mr. Andrew 
Bradford, and Mr. Keimer, by the latter of whom he was 
employed. Sir William Keith, the governor, having been in- 
formed, that Franklin was a young man of promising talents, 
invited him to his house, and treated him in the most friendly 
manner. He advised him to enter into business for himself, 
and, to accomplish this object, to make a visit to London in 
order that he might purchase the necessary articles for a 
printing office. Receiving the promise of assistance, Frank- 
lin prepared himself for the voyage, and on applying for let- 
ters of recommendation, previously to sailing, he was told, 
that they would be sent on board. When the letter bag was 
opened, there was no packet for Franklin: and he now dis> 



134 FRANKLIN. 

covered, that the governor was one of those men, who love to 
oblige every body, and who substitute the most liberal pro- 
fessions and offers in the place of active, substantial kindness. 
Arriving in London in 1724, he was obliged to seek employ- 
ment as a journeyman printer. He lived so economically, 
that he saved a great part of his wages. Instead of drinking 
six pints of beer in a day, like some of his fellow labourers, 
he drank only water, and he persuaded some of them to re- 
nounce the extravagance of eating bread and cheese for break- 
fast, and to procure a cheap soup. As his principles at this 
time were very loose, his zeal to enlighten the world induced 
him to publish his dissertation on liberty and necessity, in 
Which lie contended that virtue and vice were nothing more 
than vain distinctions. This work procured him the ac- 
quaintance of Mandeville and others of the licentious class. 
He returned to Philadelphia in October, 1726, as a clerk 
to Mr. Denham, a merchant, but the death of that gentleman 
in the following year, induced him to return to Mr. Keimer, 
in the capacity of foreman in his office. He was very useful 
to his employer, for he gave him assistance as a letter foun- 
der. He engraved various ornaments, and made printer's 
ink. He soon began business in partnership with Mr. Mere- 
dith, but in 1729, he dissolved the connection with him. 
Having purchased of Keimer a paper, which had been con- 
ducted in a wretched manner, he now conducted it in a style 
which attracted much attention. At this time, though desti- 
tute of those religious principles, which give stability and 
elevation to virtue, he yet had discernment enough to be con- 
vinced, that truth, probity, and sincerity, would promote his 
interest, and be useful to him in the world, and he resolved to 
respect them in his conduct. The expenses of his establish- 
ment in business, notwithstanding his industry and economy, 
brought him into embarrassments, from which he was reliev- 
ed by the generous assistance of William Coleman and 
Robert Grace. In addition to his other employments, he now 
opened a small stationer's shop. But the claims of business 
did not extinguish his taste for literature and science. He 
formed a club, which he called 'The Junto,' composed of the 
most intelligent of his acquaintance. Questions of morality, 
politics, or philosophy, were discussed every Friday evening, 
and the institution was continued almost forty years. As 
books were frequently quoted in the club, and as the members 
had brought their books together for mutual advantage, he 
was led to form the plan of a public library, which was car- 
ried into effect in 1731, and became the foundation of that 
noble institution, the present library company of Philadel- 
phia. In 1732., he began to publish Poor Richard's Almanac, 



FRANKLIN. 135 

which was enriched with maxims of frugality, temperance, 
industry, and integrity. So great was its reputation, that he 
sold ten thousand annually, and it was continued hy him about 
twenty-five years. The maxims were collected in the last al- 
manac in the form of an address, called the way to wealth, 
which has appeared in various publications. In 1736, he was 
appointed clerk of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and 
in 1737, postmaster of Philadelphia. The first fire company 
was formed by him in 1738. When the frontiers of Pennsyl- 
vania were endangered in 1744, and an ineffectual attempt 
was made to procure a militia law, he proposed a voluntary 
association for the defence of the province, and in a short 
time obtained ten thousand names. In 1747, he was chosen 
a member of the assembly, and continued in this station ten 
years. In all important discussions, his presence was consi- 
dered as indispensable. He seldom spoke, and never exhi- 
bited any oratory; hut by a single observation he sometimes 
determined the fate of a question. In the long controversies 
with the proprietaries or their governors, he took the most 
active part, and displayed a firm spirit of liberty. 

He was now engaged for a number of years in a course of 
electrical experiments, of which he published an account. His 
great discovery was the identity of the electric fluid, and 
lightning. This discovery he made in the summer of 1752. 
To the upright stick of a kite, he attached an iron point; the 
string was of hemp, excepting the part which he held in his 
hand, which was of silk; and a key was fastened where the 
hempen string terminated. With this apparatus, on the ap- 
proach of a thunder storm, he raised his kite. A cloud passed 
over it, and no signs of electricity appearing, he began to 
despair; but observing the loose fibres of his string to move 
suddenly toward an erect position, he presented his knuckle 
to the key, and received a strong spark. The success of this 
experiment completely established his theory. The practical 
use of this discovery in securing houses from lightning by 
pointed conductors, is well known in America and Europe. 
In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster general of the 
British colonies, and in the same year the academy of Phila- 
delphia, projected by him, was established. In 1754, he was 
one of the commissioners, who attended the congress at Al- 
bany, to devise the best means of defending the country against 
the French. He drew up a plan of union for defence and ge- 
neral government, which was adopted by the congress. It was 
however rejected by the board of trade in England, because 
it gave too much power to the representatives of the people; 
and it was rejected by the assemblies of the colonies, because 
it gave too much power to the president general. After the 



136 FRANKLIN. 

defeat of Braddork, be was appointed colonel of a regiment/ 
and he repaired to the frontiers, and built a fort. 

Higher employments, however, at length called him from? 
his country, which he was destined to serve more effectually 
as its agent in England, whither he was sent in 1757. The 
stamp act, by which the British ministry wished to familiar- 
ize the Amrricans to pay taxes to the mother country, revived 
that love of liberty which had led their forefathers to a coun- 
try at that time a desert; and the colonies formed a congress, 
the first idea of which had been communicated to them by Dr. 
Franklin, at the conferences at Albany in 1754. The war 
that was just terminated, and the exertions made by them 1,0 
support it, had given them a conviction of their strength; they 
opposed this measure, and the minister gave way, but he re- 
served the means of renewing the attempt. Once cautioned, 
however, they remained on their guard; liberty cherished by 
their alarms, took deeper root; and the rapid circulation of 
ideas by means of newspapers, for the introduction of which 
they were indebted to the printer of Philadelphia, united them 
together to resist every fresh enterprise. In the year 1766, 
this printer, called to the bar of the house of commons, un- 
derwent that famous interrogatory, which placed the name of 
Franklin as high in politics, as in natural philosophy. From 
that time he defended the cause of America, with a firmness 
and moderation becoming a great man, pointing out to the 
ministry all the errors they committed, and the conseqences 
they would produce, till the period when the tax on tea, meet- 
ing the same opposition as the stamp act had done; England 
blindly fancied herself capable of subjecting, by force, three 
million of men determined to be free, at a distance of one thou- 
sand leagues. 

In 1766, he visited Holland and Germany, and received the 
greatest marks of attention from men of science. In his pas- 
sage through Holland, lie learned from the watermen, the ef- 
fect which the diminution of the quantity of water in canals has 
in impeding the progress of boats* Upon his return to En- 
gland, he was led to make a number of experiments, all of 
which tended to confirm the observation. 

In the following year, he travelled into France, where he 
met with no less favourable reception than he had experienced 
in Germany. He was introduced to a number of literary cha- 
racters, and to the king, Louis XV. 

He returned to America, and arrived in Philadelphia in the 
beginning of May, 1775, and was received with all those 
marks of esteem and affection, which his eminent services 
merited. The day after his arrival he was elected by the le- 
gislature of Pennsylvania, a member of congress. 



FRANKLIN. 137 

Almost immediately on his arrival from England, he wrote 
letters to some of his friends in that country, in a strain fitted 
to inspire lofty ideas of the virtue, resolution, and resources 
of the colonies. "All America," said he to Dr. Priestley, 
"is exasperated, and more firmly united than ever. Great 
frugality and great industry are become fashionable here. 
Britain, I conclude, has lost her colonies for ever. She is 
now giving us such miserable specimens of her government, 
that we shall even detest and avoid it, as a complication of 
robbery, murder, famine, fire and pestilence. If you flatter, 
yourselves with beating us into submission, you know neither 
the people nor the country. You will have heard, before this 
reaches you, of the defeat of a great body of your troops by 
the country people at Lexington, of the action at Bunker's 
hill, &c. Enough has happened, one would think, to con- 
vince your ministers, that the Americans will fight, and that 
this is a harder nut to crack than they imagined. Britain, at 
the expense of three millions, has killed one hundred and 
fifty Yankees this campaign. During the same time sixty 
thousand children have been born in America. From these 
data the mathematical head of our dear good friend, Dr. 
Price, will easily calculate the time and expense necessary to 
kill us all, and conquer our whole territory. Tell him, as he 
sometimes has his doubts and despondencies about our firm- 
ness, that America is determined and unanimous." 

It was in this varied tone of exultation, resentment, and 
defiance, that he privately communicated with Europe. The 
strain of the papers respecting the British government and 
nation, which he prepared for congress, was deemed by his 
colleagues too indignant and vituperative ; to such a pitch 
were his feelings excited by the injuries and sufferings of his 
country, and so anxious was he that the strongest impetus 
should be given to the national spirit. His anger and his ab- 
horrence were real; they endured without abatement during 
the whole continuance of the system which provoked them ; 
they wore a complexion which rendered it impossible to mis- 
take them for the offspring of personal pique or constitutional 
irritability; they had a vindictive power, a corrosive energy, 
proportioned to the weight of his character, and the dignity 
of the sentiments from which they sprung. 

It was in this year that Dr. Franklin addressed that memo- 
rable and laconic epistle to his old friend and companion, Mr* 
Strahan, then king's printer, and member of the British parlia 
ment, of which the following is a correct copy, and of which 
a fac-simile is given in the last, and most correct edition of 
his works • 

18 



138 FRANKLIN. 

JPhilada. July 5, 1775. 
Mr. Strahan", 

You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majo- 
rity which has doomed my Country to Destruction — You 
have begun to burn our Towns, and murder our People — 
Look upon your Hands ! — They are stained with the Blood of 
your Relations ! — You and I were long Friends : — You are 
now my Enemy, — and 

I am, 

Yours, 

B. FRANKLIN. 

In October, 1775, Dr. Franklin was appointed by con- 
gress, jointly with Mr. Harrison and Mr. Lynch, a commit- 
tee to visit the American camp at Cambridge, and, in con- 
junction with the commander in chief, (general Washington) 
to endeavor to convince the troops, whose term of enlistment 
was about to expire, of the necessity of their continuing in the 
field, and persevering in the cause of their country. 

He was, afterwards, sent on a mission to Canada, to endea- 
vor to unite that country to the common cause of liberty. 
But the Canadians could not be prevailed upon to oppose the 
measures of the British government. 

It was directed that a printing apparatus, and hands, com- 
petent to print in French and English, should accompany this 
mission. Two papers were written and circulated very ex- 
tensively through Canada; but it was not until after the expe- 
riment had been tried, that it was found not more than one 
person in five hundred could read. Dr. Franklin was accus- 
tomed to make the best of every occurrence, suggested that if 
it were intended to send another mission, it should be a mis- 
sion composed of schoolmasters. 

He was, in 1776, appointed a committee with John Adams 
and Edward Rutledge, to inquire into the powers, with which 
lord Howe was invested in regard to the adjustment of our 
differences with Great Britain. When his loiVsUip expressed 
his concern at being obliged to distress those, v hom he so 
much regarded, Dr. Franklin assured him. that the Ameri- 
cans, out of reciprocal regard, would endeavour to lessen, as 
much as possible, the pain which he might feel on their ac- 
count, by taking the utmost care of themselves. In the dis- 
cussion of the great question of independence, he was decid- 
edly in favour of the measure. 

In July, 1776, he was called to add to his federal duties, 
those of president of a convention held at Philadelphia, for 
the purpose of giving a new constitution to the state of Penn- 
sylvania. The unbounded confidence reposed in his sagacity 
and wisdom, induced the convention to adopt his favourite 



FRANKLIN. 139 

theory of a plural executive and single legislature, which the 
experience of modern times has justly brought into disrepute. 
It may be said to be the only instance in which he cherished 
a speculation that experiment would not confirm. 

Franklin early conjectured that it would become necessary' 
for America to apply to some foreign power for assistance. 
To prepare the way for this step, and ascertain the probabi- 
lity of its success, he had. towards the close of 1775, opened, 
under the sanction of congress, a correspondence with Hol- 
land, which he managed with admirable judgment, as may be 
perceived by his letter to Mr. Dumas, of Amsterdam, of De- 
cember, 1775. contained in the fifth volume of the American 
edition of his works. When, at the end of 1776, our affairs 
had assumed so threatening an aspect, the hopes of congress 
were naturally turned to Europe, and to France particularly, 
the inveterate and most powerful rival of England. Every 
eye rested on Franklin as a providential instrument for sus- 
taining the American cause abroad; and though he had re- 
peatedly signified from London, his determination to revisit 
Europe no more, yet, having consecrated himself anew to the 
pursuit of national independence, he accepted, without hesi j 
tation, in his seventy-first year, the appointment of commis- 
sioner plenipotentiary to the court of France. 

He wished, partly with a view to protect his person, in case 
of capture on the voyage across the Atlantic, to carry with 
him propositions for peace with England, and submitted to 
the secret committee of congress, a series of articles, which 
his grandson has published. We are especially struck with 
that one of them which asks the cession to the United States, 
of Canada, Nova Scotia, the Floridas, &c. and the explana- 
tion annexed to the article by this long-sighted statesman, is 
not a little remarkable. " It is worth our while to offer such 

a sum for the countries to be ceded, since the vacant 

lands will in time sell for a great part of what we shall give, 
if not more; and if we are to obtain them by conquest, after 
perhaps a long war, they will probably cost us more than that 
sum. It is absolutely necessary for us to have them for our 
own security; and though the sum may seem large to the pre- 
sent generation, in less than half the term of years allowed 
for their payment, it will be to the whole United States a mere 
trifle." Who does not, on reading this passage, recollect 
with gratitude, and feel disposed to honour as a master-stroke, 
the purchase of Louisiana, accomplished by Franklin's suc- 
cessor in the mission to France? 

In the month of October, 1776, our philosopher set sail on 
his eventful mission, having first deposited in the hands of 
congress, all the money he could raise, between three and four 



140 FRANKLIN. 

thousand pounds, as a demonstration of his confidence in their 
cause, and an incentive for those who might he able to assist 
it in the same way. His passage to France was short, but 
extremely boisterous. During some part of the month of 
December, he remained at the country-seat of an opulent 
friend of America, in the neighborhood of Nantz, in order 
to recover from the fatigues of the voyage, and to ascertain 
the posture of American affairs at Paris, before he approach- 
ed that capital. With his usual sound discretion he forbore 
to assume, at the moment, any public character, that he might 
not embarrass the court which it was his province to concili- 
ate, nor subject the mission to the hazard of a disgraceful re- 
pulse. 

From the civilities with which he was loaded by the gentry 
of Nantz, and the surrounding country, and the lively satis- 
faction with which they appeared to view his supposed errand, 
he drew auguries that animated him in the discharge of his 
first duties at Paris. The reception given to him and his 
colleagues, by M. de Vergennes, the minister for foreign af- 
fairs, at the private audience to which they were admitted, 
toward^ the end of December, was of a nature to strengthen 
his patriotic hopes, and eminently to gratify his personal 
feelings. The particular policy of the French cabinet did 
not admit, at this period, of a formal recognition of the Ame- 
rican commissioners. Franklin abstained from pressing a 
measure for which circumstances were not ripe, but urged, 
without delay, in an argumentative memorial, the prayer of 
congress for substantial succours. 

History presents no other case in which the interests of a 
people abroad derived so much essential, direct aid from the 
auspices of an individual ; there is no other instance of a con- 
currence of qualities in a national missionary, so full and op- 
portune. Foreign assistance had become, as it was thought, 
indispensable for the rescue of the colonies : France was the 
only sufficient auxiliary; and by her intervention, and the in- 
fluences of her capital, alone, could any countenance or sup 
plies he expected from any other European power. Her court, 
though naturally anxious for the dismemberment of the Bri 
tish empire, shrunk from the risks of a war; and could he pre 
vented from stagnating in irresolution only by a strong current 
of public opinion: Her people, already touched by the causes 
and motives of the colonial struggle, required, however, some 
striking, immediate circumstance, to be excited to a clamor- 
ous sympathy. It w r as from Paris that the impulse necessary 
to foster and fructify this useful enthusiasm was to be receiv- 
ed, as well by the whole European continent, as by the mass 
of the French nation. At the time when Franklin appeared 



FRANKLIN. 141 

in Paris, the men of letters and of science possessed a re- 
markable ascendancy over all movement and judgment; they 
gave the tone to general opinion, and contributed to decide 
ministerial policy. Fashion, too, had no inconsiderable share 
in moulding public sentiment and regulating events; and at 
this epoch, beyond any other, it was determined, and liable 
to be kindled into passion, by anomalous or fanciful external 
appearances, however trivial in themselves, and moral asso- 
tions of an elevated or romantic cast. 

Observing the predilection of the people of France for the 
American cause, the rapid diffusion of a lively sympathy 
over the whole continent, the devotion of the literary and fash- 
ionable circles of Paris to his objects, the diligent prepara- 
tions for war made daily in France, and the frozen mien of 
all the continental powers towards Great Britain, Franklin did 
not allow himself to be discouraged by the reserve of the court 
of Versailles: and, in order to counteract its natural effect, and 
that of other adverse appearances upon the resolution of his conu- 
trymen, he emphatically detailed those circumstances, in his 
correspondence with America; adding, at the same time, ac- 
counts of the domestic embarrassments and growing despair 
of the enemy. 

When the news of the surrender of Burgoyne reached 
France in October, 1777, and produced there an explosion of 
public opinion, he seized upon the auspicious crisis, to make 
his decisive effort, by urging the most persuasive motives for 
a formal recognition and alliance. The epoch of the treaty 
concluded with the court of Versailles, on the 6th of Feb- 
ruary, 1778, is one of the most splendid in his dazzling ca- 
reer. 

In conjunction with Mr. John Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. 
Laurens, he signed the provisional articles of peace, Novem- 
ber 30, 1782, and the definitive treaty, September 30, 1783. 
While he was in France he was appointed one of commission- 
ers to examine Mesmer's animal magnetism. In 1784, being 
desirous of returning to his native country, he requested that 
an ambassador might be appointed in his place, and on the ar- 
rival of his successor, Mr. Jefferson, he immediately sailed for 
Philadelphia, where he arrived in September, 1785. He was 
received with universal applause, and was soon appointed pre- 
sident of the supreme executive council. In 1787, he was a 
delegate to the grand convention, which formed the constitu- 
tion of the United States. In this convention he had differed 
in some points from the majority; but when the articles were 
ultimately decreed, he said to his colleagues, " We aught to 
have but one opinion ; the good of our country requires that the 
resolution should be unanimous ;" and he signed. 



142 FRANKLIN. 

On the 17th of April, 1790, in the eighty-fourth year of his 
age, he expired in the city of Philadelphia ; encountering thie 
last solemn conflict, with the same philosophical tranquility 
and pious resignation to the will of Heaven, which had distin- 
guished him through all the various events of his life. 

He was interred, on the 21st of April, and congress ordered 
a general mourning for him throughout America, of one month. 
In France, the expression of public grief, was scarcely less en- 
thusiastic. There the event was solemnized, under the direc 
tion of the municipality of Paris, by funeral orations ; and 
the national assembly, his death being announced in a very 
eloquent and pathetic discourse, decreed that each of the 
members should wear mourning for three days, "in com- 
memoration of the event;" and that a letter of condolence, for 
the irreparable loss they had sustained, should be directed 
to the American congress. Honours extremely glorious to 
his memory, and such, it has been remarked, as were never 
before paid by any public body of one nation, to the citizen 
of another. 

He lies buried in the north-west corner of Christ church- 
yard; distinguished from the surrounding dead, by the humility 
of his sepulchre. He is covered by a small marble slab, on a 
level with the surface of the earth; and bearing in the single 
inscription of his name, with that of his wife. A monument 
sufficiently corresponding to the plainness of his manners, 
little suitable to the splendor of his virtues. 

He had two children, a son and a daughter, and several 
grand-children who survived him. The son, who had been 
governor of New- Jersey, under the British government, ad- 
hered, during the revolution, to the royal party, and spent the 
remainder of his life in England. The daughter married 
Mr. Bachc, of Philadelphia, whose descendants yet reside in 
that city. 

Franklin enjoyed, during the greater part of his life, a 
healthy constitution, and excelled in exercises of strength and 
activity. In stature he was above the middle size ; manly, 
athletic, and well proportioned. His countenance, as it is 
represented in his portrait, is distinguished by an air of sere- 
nity and satisfaction: the natural consequences of a vigorous 
temperament, of strength of mind, and conscious integrity : 
It is also marked, in visible characters, by deep thought and 
inflexible resolution. 

The whole life of Franklin, his meditations and his labours, 
have all been directed to public utility ; but the grand object 
that he had always in view, did not shut his heart against pri- 
vate friendship : he loved his family, and his friends, and was 
extremely beneficent. In society he was sententious, but not 



FORREST. 143 

fluent; a listner rather than a talker; an informing rather than a 
pleasing companion : impatient of interruption, he often men- 
tioned the custom of the Indians, who always remain silent 
some time hefore they give an answer to a question, which 
they have heard attentively ; unlike some of the politest soc ie- 
ties in Europe, where a sentence can scarcely be finished with- 
out interruption. In the midst of Ms greatest occupations for 
the liberty of his country, he had some physical experiments 
always near him in his closet ; and the sciences, which he had 
rather discovered than studied, afforded him a continual source 
of pleasure. He made various bequests and donations to cities, 
public bodies and individuals. 

The following epitaph was written by Dr. Franklin, for 
himself, when he was only twenty three years of age, as ap- 
pears by the original (with various corrections) found among 
his papers, and from which this is a faithful copy. 
" The bod v of 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 

PRINTER, 

(Like the cover of an old book, 
Its contents torn out. 
And stript of its lettering and gilding,) 
Lies here, food for worms : 
But the work shall not be lost, 
For it will (as he believed) appear once more. 
In a new, and more elegant edition, 
Revised and corrected 
by 
THE AUTHOR." 
FORREST, Uriah, a brave and intrepid officer in the re- 
volutionary war, was born in St. Mary's county, in the state 
>f Maryland, in the year seventeen hundred and fifty-six. 
At the commencement of the revolutionary war, between 
Great Britain and her then colonies, when quite a youth, full 
of ardor and courage, he early joined the standard of his 
country, and commenced his military career with zeal and 
patriotism. He entered the army as a lieutenant in one of 
the Maryland regiments, and such was his zeal, good con- 
duct, and intrepidity, that he was, during the war, promoted 
to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the continental army. — - 
At the battle of Germantown, high in the confidence of his 
officers and men, he distinguished himself by his bravery, 
and in the heat of the action lost a leg. An amputation 
above the knee, was deemed necessary. This wound ren- 
dered him for the remainder of the war, incapacitated for 
active military command. He invigorated by his precepts, 
dispelled despondency by his example, and encouraged his 



144 GADSDEN. 

men to submit to their many privations, by the cheerfulness 
with which he participated in their wants. He imparted the 
energy of his mind to all associated with him, and infused a 
high toned spirit wherever he was. 

Upon his restoration to health and usefulness, he was ap- 
pointed auditor of his native state; and after the close of the 
war. he was selected as a member of congress, under the old 
confederation. Immediately after tlie adoption of the present 
constitution of the United States, he was again elected a 
member of congress. He was also, at various periods, 
chosen by his fellow citizens, a member of the senate and 
house of delegates of the state of Maryland. 

He was happy in penetrating into the secret designs of 
others, never disclosing more of his own inclinations than 
was necessary for the purpose at hand. His carriage was 
generally uniform, and unaffectedly affable; his conversation 
enlivened by bis vivacity; his knowledge and understanding 
strikingly quick, and his talents to gain popularity, were al- 
most absolute. He possessed great penetration and discern- 
ment, with a sagacity not easily imposed on; with an industry 
and vigilance indefatigable; rather an easy debater, with a 
great command of his passions and affections, raising him su- 
perior to more improved minds. 

Some time previous to his death, he was appointed a major 
general in the militia of the state of Maryland. He was a 
man of a liberal and strong mind, and from his talents be- 
came distinguished in every situation in which he was placed. 

GADSDEN, Christopher, lieutenant governor of South 
Carolina, and a distinguished friend of his country, was horn 
about the year 1724. So high was his reputation in the co- 
lony in which he lived, that he was appointed one of the de- 
legates to the congress, which met at New York, in October, 
1765, to petition against the stamp-act. 

Judge Johnson, in his life of general Greene, says, "There 
was at least one man in South Carolina, who, as early as 
1762, foresaid and foretold the views of the British govern- 
ment, and explicitly urged his adherents to the resolution to 
resist even to death. General Gadsden, it is well known, 
and there are still living witnesses to prove it, always favour- 
ed the most decisive and energetic measures. He thought it 
a folly to temporise, and insisted that cordial ieconciliatiou 
on honourable terms, was impossible. When the news of the 
repeal of the stamp-act arrived, and the whole community 
was in extacy at the event, he, on the contrary, received it 
with indignation, and privately convening a party of his 
friends beneath the celebrated Liberty -Tree, lie there haran- 
gued them at considerable length on the folly of relaxing their 



GADSDEN. 345 

6pposition and vigilance, or indulging the fallacious hope, 
that Great Britain would relinquish her designs or preten- 
sions. He drew their attention to the preamble of the act, 
and forcibly pressed upon them the absurdity of rejoicing at 
an act that still asserted and maintained the absolute domi- 
nion over them. And then reviewing all the chances of suc- 
ceeding in a struggle to break the fetters whenever again im- 
posed on them, he pressed them to prepare their minds for the 
event. The address was received with silent but profound 
devotion, and with linked hands, the whole party pledged 
themselves to resist; a pledge that was faithfully redeemed 
when the hour of trial arrived. It was from this event that 
the Liberty-Tree took its name. The first convention of 
South Carolina held their meeting under it." 

He was also chosen a member of the congress which met 
in 1774: and on his return early in 1776, received the thanks 
of the provincial assembly for his services. He was among 
the first who advocated republican principles, and wished to 
make his country independent of the monarchical government 
of Great Britain. 

During the siege of Charleston, in 1780, he remained with- 
in the lines with five of the council, while governor Rutledgej, 
with the other three, left the city, at the earnest request of gen- 
eral Lincoln. Several months after the capitulation, he was 
taken out of his bed on the 27th of August, and, with most of 
the civil and military officers, transported in a guard-ship to 
St. Augustine. This was done by the order of lord Cornwal- 
lis, and it was in violation of the rights of prisoners on parole. 
Guards were left at their houses, and the private papers of 
some of them were examined. A parole was offered at St. 
Augustine, but such was the indignation of lieutenant govern- 
or Gadsden, at the ungenerous treatment which he had receiv- 
ed, that he refused to accept it, and bore a close confinement 
in the castle for forty-two weeks, with the greatest fortitude. 

Garden, in his anecdotes of the revolutionary war, gives the 
following interesting particulars : "The conduct of the Bri- 
tish commanders towards this venerable patriot, in the 
strongest manner evinced their determination rather to crush 
the spirit of opposition, than by conciliation to subdue it. 
The man did not exist to whose delicate sense of honour, even 
a shadow of duplicity would have appeared more abhorrent 
than general Gadsden. Transported bv an arbitrary decree, 
with many of the most resolute and influential citizens of the 
republic, to St. Augustine, attendance on parade was peremp- 
torily demanded; when a British officer stepping forward, 
said. 'Expediency, and a series of political occurrences, have 
Tendered it necessary to remove you from Charleston to tin* 

19 



146 GADSDEN. 

place; but, gentlemen, we have no wish to in Tease your sufc 
ferings; to all, therefore, who are willing to give their pa- 
roles, not to go beyond the limits prescribed to them, the li- 
berty of the town will be allowed; a dungeon will be the des- 
tiny of such as refuse to accept the indulgence." The pro- 
position was generally acceded to. But when general Gads- 
den was called to give this new pledge of faith, he indignant- 
ly exclaimed, 'With men who have once deceived me, 1 can 
enter into no new contract. Had the British commanders re- 
garded the terms of the capitulation of Charleston, 1 might 
now, although a prisoner, under my own roof, have enjoyed 
the smiles and consolations of my surrounding family; but 
even without a shadow of accusation proffered against me, for 
any act inconsistent with my plighted faith. I am torn from 
them, and here, in a distant land, invited to enter into new 
engagements. I will give no parole.' 'Think better of it, sir,' 
said the officer, 'a second refusal of it will fix your destiny: 
a dungeon will be your future habitation.' 'Prepare it, then,' 
said the inflexible patriot, 'I will give no parole, so help me 
God.' 

"When first shut up in the castle of St. Augustine, the com- 
fort of a light was denied him by the commandant of the for- 
tress. A generous subaltern offered to supply him with a 
candle, but he declined it, least the officer should expose him- 
self to the censure of his superior. 

"After Andre's arrest, colonel Glazier, the governor of the 
castle, sent to advise general Gadsden to prepare himself for 
the worst; intimating, that as general Washington had been 
assured of retaliation, if Andre was executed, it was not un- 
likely that general Gadsden would be the person selected. To 
this message he replied, 'That he was always prepared to die 
for his country; and though he knew it was impossible for 
Washington to yield the right of an independent state by the 
law of war, to fear or affection, yet he would not shrink from 
the sacrifice, and would rather ascend the scaffold than pur- 
chase with his life the dishonor of his country." 

In 1782, when it became necessary, by the rotation estab- 
lished, to choose a new governor, he was elected to this office; 
but he declined it in a short speech to the following effect. "I 
have served my country in a variety of stations for thirty 
years, and I would now cheerfully make one of a forlorn hope 
in an assault on the lines of Charleston, if it was probable, 
that, with the loss of life, you, my friends, would be reinstat- 
ed in the possession of your capital. What I can do for my 
country I am willing to do. My sentiments in favor of the 
American cause, from the stamp act downwards, have never 
changed, I am still of opinion, that it is the cause of liberty 



GANSEVOORT. 147 

and of human nature. The present times require the vigor 
and activity of the prime of life; but I feel the increasing in- 
rirmities of old age to such a degree, that I am conscious 1 can- 
not serve you to advantage. I therefore beg. for your sakes, 
and for the sake of the public, that you would indulge me with 
the liberty of declining the arduous trust." He continued,- 
however, his exertions for the good of his country, both in the 
assembly and council, and notwithstanding the injuries he 
had suffered, and the immense loss of his property, he zeal- 
ously opposed the law for confiscating the estates of the ad- 
herents to the British government, and contended that sound 
policy required to forgive and forget. 

The editor will here give an extract from an oration deliv. 
cred at the city of Washington, on the fourth of July, 1812, 
by Richard Rush. Esq. where he refers to the patriotism of 
the venerable Gadsden. He said, "By one of the surviving 
patriots of our revolution, I have been told, that in the congress 
of 1774 among other arguments used to prevent a war, and 
separation from Great Britain, the danger of having our 
towns battered down and burnt, was zealously urged. The 
venerable Christopher Gadsden, of South Carolina, rose, and 
replied to it in these memorable words: "Our sea-port towns, 
Mr. President, are composed of brick and wood. If they are 
destroyed, we have clay and timber enough to rebuild them. 
But, if the liberties of our country are destroyed, where shall 
we find the materials to replace them?" Behold in this an ex- 
ample of virtuous sentiment fit to be imitated." He died Sep- 
tember, 1805, aged eighty-one years. 

GANSEVOORT, Peter, was born in the city of Albany, 
on the 16th of July, 1749. and was educated in the state of 
New Jersey. In his youth he indicated a great fondness for 
martial exercises, and displayed an open, generous and manly 
character. Previously to the revolutionary war, he raised a 
company of grenadiers, distinguished alike for the correct- 
ness of their discipline and the grandeur of their appearance, 
(every man being at least six feet in height.) 

On the 19th of July, 1775, he was appointed by congress a 
major in the second New York regiment, and on the 19th of 
August, took command of the second battalion of the New 
York forces, marched to Ticonderoga, and joined the expedi- 
tion under general Montgomery. On the 19th of March, 
1776, he was appointed by congress lieutenant colonel of that 
regiment, and on the 21st of November, in the same year, 
colonel of the third regiment, in the army of the United 
States. 

On the 2d of August, 1777, the memorable siege of Stan- 
wix took place, the defence of wlucu fortress was certainly 



*48 GANSEVOORT. 

one of the most brilliant links in the chain of successes which 
effected the emancipation of our country. 

During the siege of fort Stanwix by colonel St. Leger, 
with a body of Britons, tories, and Indians, general Herki- 
mer collected about eight hundred of the Whig militia of the 
parts adjacent, for the relief of the garrison. St. Leger, 
aware of the consequences of being attacked in his trenches, 
detached sir John Johnson, with some tories and Indians to 
lie in ambush, and intercept the advancing militia. The stra- 
tagem took effect. The general and his militia were sur- 
prised, but several of the Indians were nevertheless killed by 
their fire. A scene of confusion followed. Some of Herki- 
mer's men run off. but others posted themselves behind logs, 
and continued to fight with bravery and success. The loss 
on the side of the Americans, w as one hundred and sixty kill- 
ed, besides the wounded. Among the former was their gal- 
lant leader, general Herkimer. He was wounded in both 
legs, and a short time before his death, was seen sitting on a 
stump, courageously encouraging his men, by which they main- 
tained their ground, and did great execution among the ene- 
my. Several of the Indian chiefs were slain by the first fire, 
which so disheartened the remainder, that they were thrown 
into the greatest confusion. 

Colonel Gansevoort, the commander of the fort, sent out 
lieutenant colonel Willet, with two hundred and fifty men, 
who bravely routed the Indians and tories, destroyed their 
provisions, and took their kettles, blankets, and muskets, be- 
sides several Indian weapons, and other articles greatly valued 
by them. A party of British regulars endeavoured to form 
an ambuscade, and to cut off his retreat to the fort, but he 
discovered and defeated the attempt. 

Colonel St. Leger availed himself of the terror excited on 
this occasion, and endeavoured, by strong representations of 
Indian barbarity, to intimidate the garrison into an imme- 
diate surrender. 

We here insert a copy of a letter written by two of general 
Herkimer's officers, prisoners with the enemy, and which was 
delivered at the time of the verbal summons to surrender. (De- 
livered'by colonel Butler and the adjutant general of St. Le-. 
ger's army:) 

9 o* clock, P. M. Camp before Fort Stanwix, 
6th August 1777. 

" Sir, 

" It is with concern we are to acquaint you, that this was 
the fatal day in which the succours, which were intended 
for your relief, have been attacked and defeated, with great 
loss of numbers killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. Our 



GANSEVOORT. 149 

regard for your safety and lives, and our sincere advice to 
you is, if you will avoid inevitable ruin and destruction, to 
surrender the fort you pretend to defend against a formidable 
body of troops, and a good train of artillery, which we are 
witnesses of; when, at the same time, you have no farther 
support or relief to expect. We are sorry to inform you that 
most of the principal officers are killed, to wit: general Her- 
kimer, colonels Cox, Seeber, Isaac Paris, captain Grous, and 
many others, too tedious to mention. The British army from 
Canada being now perhaps before Albany, the possession of 
which place of course includes the conquest of the Mohawk 
river and this fort. 

" We are with wishes for your welfare and safety, 
Sir, 

Your friends and well wishers, 
Major JOHN FREY, 
Colonel FREDERICK BELLINGER." 
To Colonel Gansevoort, commanding Fort Stanwix. 

On the back of the foregoing letter, was the following en- 
dorsement: 

u General St. Leger, on the day of the date of this letter, 
made a verbal summons of the fort, by his adjutant general 
and colonel Butler, and who there handed this letter, when co- 
lonel Gansevoort refused any answer to a verbal summons, 
unless made by general St. Leger himself, but at the mouth of 
his cannon. A written summons was the result, on the 9th 
of August, as follows: 

"Sir, 

"Agreeably to your wishes, I have the honour to give you, 
on paper, the message of yesterday, though I cannot conceive, 
explicit and humane as it was, how it could admit of more 
than one construction. After the defeat of the reinforcement, 
and the fate of all your principal leaders, on which naturally 
you built your hopes, and having the strongest reason from 
verbal intelligence, and the matter contained in the letters 
that fell into my hands, and knowing thoroughly the situation, 
of general Burgoyne's army, to he confident that you are with- 
out resource; in my fears and tenderness for your personal 
safety from the hands of Indians, enraged for the loss of some of 
their principal and most favourite leaders, I called to council 
the chiefs of all the nations, and after having used every method 
that humanity could suggest, to soften their minds and lead 
them patiently to bear their own losses, by reflecting on the 
irretrievable misfortune of their enemy, I at last laboured the 
point my humanity wished for; which the chiefs assured me 
of the next morning, after a consultation with each nation, 
that evening at their firc-placas. Their answer, in its fullest 



150 GANSEVOORT. 

extent, they insisted should be carried by colonel Butler, 
which he has given you in the most categorical manner. You 
are well acquainted, that Indians never send messages with- 
out accompanying them with menaces on non-compliance, 
that a civilized enemy would never think of doing; you may 
rest assured, therefore, that no insult was meant to be offered 
to your situation by the king's servants, in the message they 
peremptorily demanded to be carried by colonel Butler. I 
am now to repeat what has been told you by my adjutant 
general: 'That, provided you deliver up your garrison, with 
every thing as it stood at the moment the first message was 
sent, your people shall be treated with every attention that c 
humane and generous enemy can give. 

*< I have the honour to be, Sir, 

Your most obedient humble servant, 

BARRY ST. LEGER, 
Brigadier general of His Majesty's forces. 
Camp before Fort Stanwix, August 9th, 1777. 

"P. S. I expect an immediate answer, as the Indians are 
extremely impatient; and if this proposal is rejected, I am 
afraid it will be attended with very fatal consequences, not 
only to you and your garrison, but the whole country down 
the Mohawk river; such consequences as would be very re- 
pugnant to my sentiments of humanity, but, after this, entirely 
out of mv power to prevent. 

BARRY ST. LEGER. 
To Colonel Gansevoort, commanding Fort Stanwix." 
Colonel Gansevoort' s Jlnsrver. 

" Sir, 

"In answer to your letter of this day's date, I have only to 
say, that it is my determined resolution, with the forces under 
my command, to defend this fort at every hazard to the last 
extremity, in behalf of the United American States, who 
have placed me here to defend it against all their enemies. 

" I have the honour to be, 
Sir, 

Your most obedient humble servant, 

PETER GANSEVOORT, 
Colonel commanding Fort Stanwix. 

The siege continued until the 22d of August, 1777, when 
St. Leger had advanced to within one hundred and fifty 
yards of the fort. Ignorant of the fate of colonel Willett, 
his second in command, who, with lieutenant Stockwell, had 
undertaken a hazardous enterprise to procure relief for the 
garrison, his provisions daily exhausting, some of his officers 
anxious to accept the proffered protection of St. Leger, from 
the fury of the savages, by making a timely surrender, all 



GANSEVOORT. 151 

communication with the fort cut off by the besiegers, and hav- 
ing no certain prospect of relief, Gansevoort, who knew not 
how to yield when he was guarding his country's honour and 
safety, had adopted the desperate resolution, in rase no rein- 
forcement should arrive, before his provisions were reduced to 
a few day's supply, (after distributing them among his men) 
to head the brave remnant of his garrison, and fight his way 
at night through the enemy, or perish in the attempt. Those 
who knew him best, knew how well he dared to execute his 
resolves. 

On the 4th of October, 1777, congress passed a vote of 
thanks, and appointed him colonel commandant of fort Stan- 
wix. The intention of Congress was "to give a substantial 
as well as honourable testimony of the sense they entertained 
of his services, and to make such a provision for him, as he 
might feel the effects of, even in time of peace, by putting him. 
on a similar footing with the military governors of forts in 
Europe." This is the language of judge Duer, in a letter to 
general Lincoln, then secretary at war. Judge Duer was a 
member of the board of war which recommended the resolu- 
tion, and also a member of congress when it was adopted. In 
the fall of the year 1778, he was ordered by general Wash- 
ington from fort Stanwix to Schenectady, and in the spring 
of the year 1779, he was ordered by him to join the army un- 
der general Sullivan in the western expedition. At the head 
of a chosen party from the whole army, he distinguished him- 
self by surprising the lower Mohawk castle, capturing all the 
Indian inhabitants by the celerity of his movements, and a hu- 
mane and generous treatment of the prisoners. In the year 
1781, the reduction of the army took place, and being a junior 
colonel, he was left out. Anxious to be retained in active 
service, and believing that his commission as colonel comman- 
dant of fort Stanwix was not affected by this arrangement he 
explained his situation to general Washington, and requested 
orders to join the army. General Washington immediately 
addressed the president of congress on the subject. 

Head Quarters, JVew JVindsor, 
February 9th, 1781. 

"Sir, 

" Colonel Gansevoort has applied to me on a subject which 
I am under the necessity of referring to congress, as they 
alone are competent to decide upon it. 

"On the 4th of October, 1777, congress were pleased to pas? 
a resolution of thanks to colonel Gansevoort, and to the offi- 
cers and men under his command, for the bravery and perse- 
verance displayed in the defence of fort Schuyler, appointing 
him, as a reward, colonel commandant of the same. He also 



!5S GANSEVOORT. 

received a special commission as colonel commandant of fort 
Schuyler. 

44 It happens, that colonel Gansevoort being junior to colo-^ 
nels Van Schaick and Cortlandt, has been obliged to retire on 
the new arrangement, but he conceives that a general regu- 
lation of this kind does not vacate a commission granted by 
special authority for a particular reason: he, therefore, still 
considers himself as an officer in service. 

" I shall be. happy to know the sense of congress on this point 
as soon as may be convenient. 

14 1 have the honour to be, with perfect respect, 

Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 

GEO: WASHINGTON. 
His Excellency, Samuel Huntington, Esq. 

President of Congress, Philadelphia. 
By the United States, in Congress assembled, March 6th, 1 782. 

Resolved, That colonel Gansevoort be informed, that al- 
though Congress have a high sense of his military abilities and 
courage, particularly displayed in the defence of fort Schuyler, 
in 1777, yet it is impracticable with the present arrangement of 
the army to reinstate him therein, without manifest injury to 
other officers; he having been deranged as a junior colonel of 
that line, and his regiment incorporated agreeably to the prin- 
ciples prescribed in the resolution of congress, of the 3d and 
21st of October, 1780. „ 

CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. 

In the mean time the state of New York having appointed 
him a Brigadier General, he marched against the Vermont in- 
surgents ; after which he was appointed a Major General. At 
the close of the war, he retired to Northumberland, in the 
county of Saratoga, and devoted his attention to agricultural 
pursuits, until the year 1790, when he was appointed Sheriff 
of the then extensive county of Albany, which office he re- 
signed iu October, 1792. 

He afterwards was appointed one of the commissioners for 
fortifying the northern and western frontiers of the state of 
New York, and to hold treaties with the Indians, on the part 
Of the United States. In May, 1802, he was appointed by 
president Jefferson, military agent of the northern department 
of the United States, which he resigned in February, 1809, 
when he was appointed by president Madison, a brigadier ge- 
neral in the army of the United States, in which service lie 
continued until his death, which took place on the 2d of July, 
1812. The preceding year, he presided at the court martial 
which convened at Fredericktown, in Virginia, for the trial 
of general Wilkinson; in returning from which place, in the 
winter of 1812, he was seized with a cold, which terminated 



GATES. 153 

his life, in the sixty-third year of his age. He descended to 
the grave, regretting that he could not be spared to serve his 
country in the second war of its independence. Fort Ganse- 
voort, erected in 1812 — 13, in the harbour of New York, was 
named in honour of him. 

In general Gansevoort were united most of those excellent 
qualities, which dignify and adorn the human character. His 
person was noble and majestic, (his height being six feet, 
three inches.) His mind fearless, magnanimous and ener- 
getic ; his disposition amiable and indulgent : his manners 
easy and engaging. He was regardless of wealth, and plain 
and unostentatious in his habits of life: as a republican, 
he was firm in principle, and inflexible in practice; main- 
taining through life, the most pure and unimpeachable moral 
and political integrity. Above all, general Gansevoort was 
a christian. 

GATES. Horatio, was a native of England, and was 
born in 1728. The condition of his family, the incident and 
prospects of his youth, and his education, we are not able to 
communicate any particulars. There is reason to believe that 
he entered the army very early, and began his career as an 
ensign or lieutenant; yet, we are told, that he obtained, by 
merit merely, the rank of major, and was aid-de-camp to the 
British officer who commanded at the capture of Martinico. 
At the conclusion of the war in 1748, he was stationed some 
time at Halifax, in Nova Scotia. At that period, if the date 
of his birth be accurate, his age did not exceed twenty years. 

He continued in the army, and, probably, in some American, 
garrison, during the ensuing seven years of peace. A new 
war then broke out in Germany, and North America, and 
Mr. Gates, in quality of captain of foot, attracts our notice in 
the earliest and most conspicuous scene of that war. He was 
in the army which accompanied the unfortunate Braddock, in 
the expedition against Fort du Qiiesne, and, together with the 
illustrious Washington, was among the few officers, who, on 
that occasion, escaped with life. He did not escape, howe- 
ver, without a very dangerous wound, which for a time, shut 
him out from the bloody and perilous scenes of that long and 
diversified contest. He remained in America to the peace of 
1763, and then returned to his native country with a full 
earned reputation for activity, enterprise, and courage. 

At the opening of the American war we find him settled on 
a farm in Virginia. At what time he laid down the military 
life, and returned to spend the rest of his days in the new 
world, we are not informed; but his conduct evinced so per- 
fect an attachment to his new country, and his military repu- 
tation was so high, that he was immediately appointed by coa« 

20 



154 GATES. 

gress, adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, 
in the new army. General Washington was well acquainted 
with his merits in his military character, and warmly recom- 
mended him to congress on this occasion. They had been 
fellow-soldiers and sufferers under Braddock. 

From this period, he took a very active part in most of the 
transactions of the war, and his abilities and good fortune 
placed him in a rank inferior only to Washington, and above 
any other general. He accompanied the commander in chief 
to Massachusetts, in July, 1775, and was employed for some 
time in a subordinate, but highly useful capacity. 

In 1776, general Gates was appointed to the chief com- 
mand of the forces destined against Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point. 

In the spring of 1777, he was appointed, with Schuyler, 
from a subordinate, to the chief command on the northern 
frontier. In May, of the same year, he was superseded by 
Schuvler, nor was it, until after Burgoyne, with his well ap- 
pointed legions had reached Ticonderoga, that he resumed 
the command. This place commanded by Sinclair, was eva- 
cuated without a siege, on the 5th of July. The retreating 
army under Sinclair, was hotly pursued, overtaken, and de- 
feated. Fort Ann and Skeensborough were occupied by the 
enemy, and all attempts to check his further progress appear- 
ed wholly desperate. 

At this crisis a small delay in the advance of Burgoyne, 
from Skeensborough, rendered necessary by the natural diffi- 
culties of the country, Mas diligently employed by general 
Schuyler. That meritorious officer contrived to raise the 
most formidable impediments to the further progress of Bur- 
goyne, by breaking down the bridges, obstructing the navi- 
gation of Wood-creek, choking up the roads or pathways 
through the forest, by felled trees, and by driving oflf all the 
cattle of the neighbouring country. These obstructions were 
so formidable that Burgoyne did not arrive at fort Edward, 
on the upper branches of the Hudson, till twenty-five days af- 
ter his pause at Skeensborough. Here, a painful, unseasonable, 
and dangerous pause, was again necessary, in order to pro- 
cure provisions from the posts in the rear, and to collect the 
boats and other vessels necessary for the navigation of the 
Hudson. 

The progress of Burgoyne was arrested at the very point 
where it should seem all obstacles, of any moment, where fully 
surmounted. He had reached the Hudson, by a most painful 
and laborious march through the forest, and a detachment of 
his army under St. Leger, who had been directed to ap- 
proach the Hudson by another road, had nearly effected this 



GATES. iso 

purpose. St. Leger had gained a battle, and was now be- 
sieging fort Schuyler, the surrender of which was necessary 
to the further co-operation of the British generals, and was 
confidently anticipated. The tide of events, however, now 
suddenly took a new direction. 

Fort Schuyler refused to surrender, and the assault of the 
besiegers made very little impression on the works. The In- 
dians, who composed a large part of St. Leger's army, began to 
display their useful fickleness and treachery, and after many 
efforts made by the British general to detain them, finally 
resolved to withdraw. This created an absolute necessity 
for raising the siege, which was done with great precipita- 
tion, and witli the loss of all their camp equipage and stores. 

On the other side, the strenuous exertions of general Schuy- 
ler had deprived Burgoyne of all those resources which the 
neighboring country might have afforded him. After a fort- 
night's labor, he had been able to collect only twelve boats, 
and five day's provision for his army. An attempt to obtain 
possession of a depository of provisions at Bennington, had 
failed, and two detachments, sent on that service, had been 
defeated. The militia of the eastern and lower country were 
rapidly collecting, and threatened to raise obstacles still more 
formidable than those of nature. 

Gates was now appointed to succeed Schuyler, and arrived 
at the scene of action on the 2 1st of August, 1777. 

It was fortunate for general Gates, that the retreat from 
Ticonderoga had been conducted under other auspices than 
his, and that he took the command when the indefatigable 
but unrequited labors of Schuyler, and the courage of Starke 
and his mountaineers had already insured the ultimate defeat 
of Burgoyne, who, notwithstanding his unfavorable prospects, 
would not think of saving his army by a timely retreat, was 
highly propitious to the new American commander. 

After collecting thirty days provision, Burgoyne passed 
the Hudson and encamped at Saratoga. Gates, with num- 
bers already equal, and daily increasing, began to advance 
towards him with a resolution to oppose his progress at the 
risk of a battle. He encamped at Slill water, and Burgoyne 
hastened forward to open the way with his sword. On the 
17th of September, the two armies were within four miles of 
each other. Two days after, skirmishes between advanced 
parties terminated in an engagement almost general, in which 
the utmost efforts of the British merely enabled them to main- 
tain the footing of the preceding day. 

Burgoyne, unassisted by the British forces under Clinton 
at New York, found himself unable to pursue his march down 
the river, and ia the kope of this assistance, was content jto 



J56 GATES, 

remain in liis camp, and stand on the defensive. His army 
was likewise diminished by the desertion of the Indians and 
Canadian militia, to less than one half of its original number. 
Gates, finding his forces largely increasing, heing plentifully 
supplied with provisions, and knowing that Burgoyne had only 
a limited store, which was rapidly lessening, and could not 
be recruited, was not without hopes that victory would come, 
in time, even without a battle. His troops were so numer- 
ous, and his fortified position so strong, that he was able to 
take measures for preventing the retreat of the enemy, by oc- 
cupying the strong posts in his rear. Accordingly, nineteen 
days passed without any further operations, a delay as ruin- 
ous to one party, as it was advantageous to the other. At the 
end of this period, the British general found his prospects of 
assistance as remote as ever, and the consumption of his stores 
so alarming, that retreat or victory became unavoidable al- 
ternatives. 

On the 8th of October a warm action ensued, in which the 
British were every where repulsed, and a part of their lines 
occupied by their enemies. Burgoyne's loss was very consi- 
derable in killed, wounded and prisoners, while the favora- 
ble situation of Gate's army made its losses in the battle of no 
moment Burgoyne retired in the night to a stronger camp, 
but the measures immediately taken by Gates to cut off his re- 
treat, compelled him without delay to regain his former camp 
at Saratoga. There he arrived with little molestation from 
his adversary. His provisions being now reduced to the sup- 
ply of a few days, the transport of artillery and baggage, to- 
wards Canada, being rendered impracticable by the judicious 
measures of his adversary, the British general resolved upon 
a rapid retreat, merely with what the soldiers could carry. 

On a careful scrutiny, however, it was found that they were 
deprived even of this resource, as the passes through which 
their route lay, were so strongly guarded, that nothing but 
artillery could clear them. In this desperate situation a par- 
ley took place, and on the 16th of October, the whole army 
surrendered to Gates. The prize obtained consisted of more 
than five thousand prisoners, some fine artillery, seven thou- 
sand muskets, clothing for seven hundred men, with a great 
quantity of tents, and other military stores. All the frontier 
fortresses were immediately abandoned to the victors. 

It is not easy to overrate the importance of this success. It 
may be considered as deciding the war of the revolution, as 
from that period the British cause began rapidly to decline, 
The capture of Cornwallis was hardly of equal importance to 
that of Burgoyne, and was, in itself, an event of much less 
splendor, and productive of less exultation. 



GATES. 157 

How far the misfortunes of Burgoync were owing to the ac- 
cidents beyond human controul, and how far they are ascribed 
to the individual conduct and courage of the American com- 
mander, would be a useless and invidious inquiry. Reason- 
ing on the ordinary ground, his merits were exceedingly 
great, and this event entitled him to a high rank among the 
deliverers of his country. The memory of all former mis- 
fortunes were effaced by the magnitude of this victory, and 
the government and people vied with each other in expressing 
their admiration of the conquering general. Besides the 
thanks of congress, the general received from the president a 
gold medal, as a memorial of their gratitude. 

Every war abounds with cases of private suffering and dis- 
tress; very few of which become public, though sympathy and 
curiosity are powerfully excited by narratives of that kind; 
and the feelings of a whole nation are remarkably swayed by 
them. The expedition of Burgoyne was adorned by the ro- 
mantic and affecting tales of M Crea, and lady Harriet Ack- 
land. The latter is of no further consequence in this narration, 
than as it reflects great credit on the politeness and humanity 
of general Gates. Major Ackland, the husband of this lady, 
was wounded and made prisoner in one of the battles preced- 
ing the surrender, and his wife, in going to the hostile camp to 
attend her husband, met with a reception, which proved that 
long converse with military scenes, had left the virtues of 
humanity wholly unimpaired in his bosom. 

Gates was now placed at the head of the board of war; a 
post of trust and dignity, scarcely inferior to that of comman- 
der in chief. 

He was in a private station, residing on his farm in Vir- 
ginia, in June, 1780. The low state of their affairs in the 
southern districts, induced congress, on the 13th of that 
month, to call him to the chief command in that quarter. 
The state of affairs in Pennsylvania. Jersey, and New York, 
afforded sufficient employment for Washington, and Gates be- 
ing the next in rank and reputation, was resorted to as the 
last refuge of his suffering country. 

The efforts of the British in the southern states had been 
very strenuous and successful. Charleston, the chief city, 
had been taken. All the American detachments, collected 
with great difficulty, easily dissolved by their own fears, ill 
furnished with arms, and unqualified for war, by inexperi- 
ence and want of discipline, were instantly overwhelmed and 
dispersed by the well equipped cavalry of Tarleton, and the 
veterans of Rawdon and Cornwallis. The American leaders 
were famous for their valour, perseverance and activity; but 
these qualities would not supply the place of guns, and of 



158 GATES. 

hands to manage them. At this crisis, Gates took the com- 
mand of that miserable remnant which bore the name of the 
southern army, and which mustered about fifteen hundred 
men. A very numerous and formidable force existed in the 
promises of North Carolina and Virginia. The paper armies 
of the new states always made a noble appearance. All 
the muniments of war overflowed the skirts of these armies ; 
but, alas! the field was as desolate as the paper estimate was 
full. The promised army proved to be only one tenth of the 
stipulated number, and assembled at the scene of action long 
after the fixed time. The men were destitute of arms and 
ammunition, and, what was most to be regretted, were undis- 
ciplined. 

Two modes of immediate action were proposed. One was 
to advance into the country possessed by the enemy, by a 
road somewhat circuitous, but which would supply the army 
with accommodation and provisions. Gates was averse to 
dilatory measures. He was, perhaps, somewhat misled by 
the splendid success which had hitherto attended him. He 
was anxious to come to action immediately, and to terminate 
the war by a few bold and energetic efforts. He, therefore, 
resolved to collect all the troops into one body, and to meet 
the enemy as soon as possible. Two days after his arrival in 
camp, he began his march by the most direct road. This 
road, unfortunately, led through a barren country, in the 
hottest and most unwholesome season of the year. 

During this march, all the forebodings of those who pre- 
ferred a different track, were amply fulfilled. A scanty sup- 
ply of cattle, found nearly wild in the woods, was their prin- 
cipal sustenance, while bread or flour was almost wholly 
wanting, and when we add to a scarcity of food, the malignity 
of the climate and the season, we shall not wonder that the 
work of the enemy was anticipated in the destruction of con- 
siderable numbers by disease. The perseverance of Gates, 
in surmounting the obstacles presented by piny thickets and 
dismal swamps, deserves praise, however injudicious the ori- 
ginal choice of such a road may be thought by some. In this 
course he effected a junction with some militia of North Caro- 
lina, and with a detachment under Potterfield. 

He finally took possession of Clermont, whence the British 
commander, lord ltawdon, had previously withdrawn. That 
general prepared, by collecting and centering his forces in 
one body, to overwhelm him in a single battle. Lord Raw- 
don was posted, with his forces, at Camden. After some de- 
liberation, the American leader determined to approach the 
English, and expose himself to the chance of a battle. 

Rumour had made the numbers of the Americans much 



GATES. 159 

greater than they really were in the imagination of the Bri- 
tish. Cornwallis himself hastened to the scene of action ; 
and, though mustering ail his strength for this arduous occa- 
sion, could not bring two thousand men into the field. Nine- 
teen, however, out of twenty, of these, were veterans of the 
most formidable qualifications. With the reinforcement of 
seven hundred Virginia militia and some other detachments, 
Gates's army did not fall short of four thousand men. A very 
small portion of these were regular troops, whil ethe rest 
were a wavering and undiciplined militia, whose presence 
was rather injurious than beneficial. 

Notwithstanding his inferiority of numbers, Cornwallis 
found that a retreat would be more pernicious than a battle, 
under the worst auspices; and he himself on the 16th of Au- 
gust, prepared to attack his enemy. General Gates had ta- 
ken the same resolution at the same time; and the adverse 
forces came to an engagement, in which the Americans suf- 
fered a defeat. The loss of the battle was ascribed, with 
reason, to the unskilfulness of the militia. Among these the 
route and confusion was absolute and irretrievable, and Gates 
had the singular fortune of conducting the most prosperous and 
the most disastrous of the military enterprises in this war. 

Here was a dismal reverse in the life of Gates. His pros- 
perous scale sunk at Camden as fast as it had mounted at Sa- 
ratoga. There had been a difference of opinion as to the best 
road to the theatre of action, and the hardships and diseases 
which one party had foretold would infest the road which he 
took, actually exceeded what was menaced. A battle lost 
against half the number, in circumstances where the van- 
quished army was taken, in some degree, by surprise, would 
not fail to suggest suspicions as to the caution or discernment 
of the general. 

Gates continued in command till October the 5th, in the 
same year, about fifty days after the disaster at Camden. In 
this interval he had been busily employed in repairing the 
consequences of that defeat, and was now reposing for the 
winter. He was on that day, however, displaced, and sub- 
jected to the inquiry of a special court. The inquiry was a 
tedious one, but terminated finally in the acquittal of the ge- 
neral. He was reinstated in his military command in the year 
1782. In the meantime, however, the great scenes of the 
southern war, especially the capture of Cornwallis, had past. 
Little room was afforded to a new general to gather either 
laurels or henbane. A particular detail of those transactions 
in which he was concerned, exceeds the limits prescribed to 
this hasty sketch. In like manner, we are unable to digest 
that voluminous mass of letters, evidences, and documents, by 



160 GATES. 

which the resolution of congress, in favour of his conduct at 
Camden, was dictated. 

The capture of Cornwallis, which produced such grand 
and immediate consequences, swallowed up the memory of all 
former exploits, and whatever sentence the impartial historian 
may pronounce on the comparative importance of the capture 
of Burgoyne, and the surrender of Cornwallis, to the national 
welfare, or to the merit of the leaders, the people of that time 
could not hearken to any such parallel. They swam in joy 
and exultation, and the hero of York-town was alike with 
congress and with the people the only saviour of his country. 

When the revolution was completed, Gates retired to his 
plantation in Virginia. We are unacquainted with the parti- 
culars of his domestic economy; hut have reason to infer that 
it was eminently mild and liberal, since seven years after- 
wards, when he took up his final residence in New York, he 
gave freedom to his slaves. Instead of turning them to the 
highest profit, he made provision for the old and infirm, while 
several of them testified their attachment to him by remaining 
in his family. In the characteristic virtue of planters, hospi- 
tality, Gates had no competitor, and his reputation may well 
he supposed to put that virtue to a hard test. He purchased, 
in the neighborhood of New York, a spacious house, with va- 
luable ground, for the life of himself and his wife, and here, 
with few exceptions, he remained for the rest of his life. 

No wonder that the military leaders in the revolution, should 
aspire to the enjoyment of its civil honours afterwards. The 
war was too short to create a race of mere soldiers. The 
merchants and lawyers who entered the army, became mer- 
chants and lawyers again, and had lost none of their primi- 
tive qualifications for administering the civil government. — 
General Gates, however, was a singular example among the 
officers of high rank. His original profession was a soldier, 
and disabled him from acquiring the capacity suitable to the 
mere magistrate and senator. During twenty-three years, 
he was only for a short time in a public body. In the year 
1800, he was elected to the New York legislature, in conse- 
quence of a critical balance of the parties in that state, and 
withdrew again into private life, as soon as the purpose for 
which he was elected was gained. 

General Gates was a whig in England, and a republican 
in America. His political opinions did not separate him from 
many respectable citizens, whose views differed widely from 
his own. 

He had a handsome person, tending to corpulence, in the 
middle of life, and remarkably courteous to all. He is said 
tp have received a classical education, and not to have en- 



GATES. 161 

iirely neglected that advantage in afterlife. To science, li- 
terature, or erudition, however, he made no pretensions ; but 
gave indisputable marks of a social, amiable and benevolent 
disposition. 

He died, without posterity, at his customary abode, near 
New York, on the 10th of April, 1806, after having counted 
a long series of seventy-eight years. 

As the affecting tales of miss M'Crea and lady Ackland, are 
alluded to in the foregoing sketch, and connected with an im- 
portant period of the life of general Gates, we insert an ac- 
count of those incidents, the former from Ramsay, the latter 
from Thatcher's Journal, a valuable and interesting work, 
lately published in Boston. 

For some time previous to the capture of Burgoyne's army by 
general Gates, many innocent persons fell victims to the toma- 
hawk and scalping knife of those savages who accompanied 
the British army. Upwards of one hundred men, women and 
children, perished by the hands of those ruffians, " whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all 
ages, sexes, and conditions." Among other instances, the 
murder of miss Jenny M'Crea, excited universal horror. 

u This young lady, in the innocence of youth, and the bloom 
of beauty; the daughter of a steady loyalist, and engaged to 
be married to a British officer, was on the very day of her 
intended nuptials, massacred by the savage auxiliaries, at- 
tached to the British army. Mr. Jones, her lover, from an 
anxiety for her safety, engaged some Indians to remove her 
from among the Americans; and promised to reward the per- 
son who should bring her safe to him, with a barrel of rum. Two 
of the Indians, who had conveyed her some distance, on the 
way to her intended husband, disputed, which of them should 
present her to Mr. Jones. Both were anxious for the reward. 
One of them killed her with his tomahawk, to prevent the 
other from receiving it. Burgoyne obliged the Indians to 
deliver up the murderer, and threatened to put him to death-. 
His life was only spared, upon the Indians agreeing to terms, 
which the general thought would be more efficacious th an an ex- 
ecution, in preventing similar mischiefs." 

" General Gates was no less dignified and brave as a com- 
mander, than beneficent and generous as a conqueror. He 
was remarkable for his humanity to prisoners, and a desire to 
mitigate the sufferings of the unfortunate. Among the objects 
in distress, which claimed his attention, was the lady of major 
Ackland, commander of the British grenadiers, who was dan- 
gerously wounded and captured during the battle of the 7th 
of October. This heroic lady, from conjugal affection, was 
induced to follow the fortune of her husband during the whole 

9.1 



162 GATES. 

campaign through the wilderness. Having been habituated 
to a mode of life with which those of rank and fortune are 
peculiarly favoured, her delicate frame was ill calculated to 
sustain the indescribable privations and hardships, to which 
she was unavoidably exposed during an active campaign. 
Her vehicle of conveyance was, part of the time, a small two 
wheeled tumbril, drawn by a single horse, over roads almost 
impassable. Soon after she received the affecting intelligence 
that her husband had received a wound, and was a prisoner, 
she manifested the greatest tenderness and affection, and re- 
solved to visit him in our camp, to console and alleviate his 
.sufferings. With this view T she obtained a letter from Bur- 
goyne, to general Gates, and not permitting the prospect of 
being out in the night, and drenched in rain, to repress her 
zeal, she proceeded in an open boat, with a few attendants, 
and arrived at our post in the night, in a suffering condition, 
from extreme wet and cold. The sentinel, faithful to his duty, 
detained them in the boat till major Dearborn, the officer of 
the guard, could arrive. He permitted them to land, and af- 
forded lady Ackland the best accommodations in his power, 
and treated her with a cup of tea in his guard house. When 
general Gates, in the morning, was informed of the unhappy 
situation of lady Ackland. he immediately ordered her a safe 
escort, and treated her himself with the tenderness of a parent, 
directing that every attention should be bestowed which her 
rank, her sex, character and circumstances, required. She 
was soon conveyed to Albany, w here she found her wounded 
husband. 

"Lady Ackland accompanied major Ackland to Canada, in 
1776, and was called to attend on him while sick in a mi- 
serable hut at Chamblee. In the expedition to Ticonderoga, 
in 1777, she was positively enjoined not to expose herself to 
the risk and hazards which might occur on that occasion ; 
but major Ackland having received a wound in the battle of 
Hubberton, she crossed lake Champlain, to pay her attention 
to him. After this she followed his fortune, and shared his 
fatigue, while traversing the dreary, woody country to Fort 
Edward. Here the tent in which they lodged, took fire, by 
night, from which they escaped with the utmost difficulty.—. 
During the action of the 19th of September, she was exposed 
to great fatigue, and inexpressible anxiety for the fate of her 
husband, being advanced in the front of the battle. On the 
7th of October, during the heat of the conflict, lady Ackland 
took refuge among the wounded and dying: her husband com- 
manding the grenadiers, was in the most exposed part of the 
action, and she in awful suspense awaiting his fate. The ba- 
roness Reidsel, and the wives of two other field officers, were 



GIBSON. 16$ 

her companions in painful apprehension. One of these offi- 
cers was soon brought in dangerously wounded, and the death 
of the other was announced. It was not long before intelli- 
gence was received that the British army was defeated, and 
that Major Ackland was desperately wounded and taken. 
The next day she proposed to visit her husband, in the Ame- 
rican camp. General Burgoyne observes, *' Though I was 
ready to believe, for I had experienced, that patience and forti- 
tude in a supreme degree, were to be found, as well as every 
other virtue, under the most tender forms, I was astonished at 
this proposal. After so long an agitation of the spirits, ex- 
hausted not only for want of rest, but, absolutely want of 
food, drenched in rain, for twelve hours together, that a wo- 
man should be capable of delivering herself to the enemy, pro- 
bably in the night, and uncertain into what hands she might 
fall, appeared an effort above human nature. The assistance 
I was enabled to give, was small indeed; I had not even a cup 
of wine to offer her, but I was told, she had found from some 
kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and dirty water. All I 
could furnish to her, was an open boat and a few lines written 
on dirty and wet paper to general Gates, recommending her 
to his protection. It is due to justice, at the close of this ad- 
venture, to say, that she was received and accommodated by 
general Gates, with all the humanity and respect, that her 
rank, her merits, and her fortunes deserved. 

" Let such as are affected by these circumstances of alarm, 
hardship and danger, recollect that the subject of them was a 
woman of the most tender and delicate frame; of the gentlest 
manners; habituated to all the soft elegancies and refined en- 
joyments that attended high birth and fortune; and far ad- 
vanced in a state, in which the tender cares, always due to 
the sex, become indispensably necessary. Her mind alone 
was formed for such trials." 

GIBSON, John, was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 
the 23d of May, 1740. He received a classical education, 
and was an excellent scholar at the age of eighteen, when he 
entered the service. He made his first campaign under gene- 
ral Forbes, in the expedition which resulted in the acquisition 
of Fort Du Quesne, (Pittsburg) from the French. At the 
peace of 1763, he settled at Fort Pitt, as a trader. Shortly 
after this, war broke out again with the Indians, and he was 
taken prisoner at the mouth of Beaver creek, together with 
two men who were in his employment, while descending the 
Ohio in a canoe. One of tiie men was immediately burnt, 
and the other shared the same fate, as soon as the party reached 
the Kenhawa. General Gibson, however, was preserved by 
N an aged squaw, and adopted by her in the place of her son, 



£64 GIBSON. 

who had been killed in battle. He remained several years 
with the Indians, and became familiar with their language, 
habits, manners, customs and traditions. It is to be regretted, 
that the low degree of estimation in which these subjects 
were held, prevented him from giviug his collections to the 
public, as in the present state of taste for Indian antiquities, 
they would have been valuable. No person who had equal 
opportunities of acquiring information of this kind, was so 
well qualified to communicate it, except his late friend, the 
Re\. Mr. Heckewelder. At the termination of hostilities, he 
again settled at Fort Pitt. 

In 1774, he acted a conspicuous part in the expedition 
against the Shawnee Towns, under lord Dunmore ; particu- 
larly in negociating the peace which followed, and restored 
many prisoners to their friends, after a captivity of several 
years. On this occasion, the celebrated speech of Logan, the 
Mingo chief, was delivered; the circumstances connected with 
which, have still sufficient interest to justify a relation of them 
here, as received from the lips of general Gibson, a short 
time before his death. When the troops had arrived at the 
principal town, and while dispositions were making prepara- 
tory to the attack, he was sent on with a flag, and authority to 
treat for peace. As he approached, he met with Logan, who 
was standing by the side of the path, and accosted with, "My 
friend Logan, how do you do? I am glad to see you." To 
which Logan, with a coldness of manner evidently intended 
to conceal feelings with which he was struggling, replied: 
^'1 suppose you arc;" and turned away. On opening the bu- 
siness to the chiefs (all but Logan) assembled in council, he 
found them sincerely desirous of peace. During the discus- 
sion of the terms, he felt himself plucked by the skirt of bis 
capote, and turning, beheld Logan standing at his back, with 
his face convulsed with passion, and beckoning him to follow. 
This he hesitated to do; but reflecting that he was at least a 
match for his supposed antagonist, being armed with dirk and 
side pistols, and in muscular vigour more than his equal, and 
considering, above all, that the slightest indication of fear 
might be prejudicial to the negociation, he followed in silence, 
while the latter, with hurried steps, led the way to a copse of 
woods at some distance. Here they sat down, and Logan 
having regained the power of utterance, after an abundance 
of tears, delivered tho speech in question, desiring that it 
might be communicated to lord Dunmore, for the purpose 
of removing all suspicion of insincerity on the part of the In- 
dians, in consequence of the refusal of a chief of such note to 
take part in the ratification of the treaty. It was accordingly 
translated and delivered to lord Dunmore immediately after- 



GIBSON. 165 

wards. General Gibson would not positively assert that the 
speech as given by Mr. Jefferson, in the notes on Virginia, is 
an exact copy of his translation, although particular expres- 
sions in it, induced him to think that it is; but he was alto- 
gether certain that it contains the substance. He was of 
opinion, however, that no translation could give an adequate 
idea of the orignal; to which, the language of passion, uttered 
in tones of the deepest feeling, and with gesture at once natural, 
graceful, and commanding, together with a consciousness on 
the part of the hearer, that the sentiments proceeded immedi- 
ately from a desolate and broken heart, imparted a grandeur 
and force inconceivably great. In comparison with the speech 
as delivered, he thought the translation lame and insipid. 

On the breaking out of the revolutionary war, he was ap- 
pointed to the command of one of the continental regiments, 
and served with the army at New York, and in the retreat 
through Jersey; but for the rest of the war. was employed on 
the western frontier, for which, by long experience in Indian 
warfare, he was peculiarly qualified. In 1788. he was a mem- 
ber of the convention which formed the constitution of Penn- 
sylvania, and subsequently a judge of the court of common 
pleas of Allegheny county, and also a major general of mi- 
litia. In 1800, he received from president Jefferson, the ap- 
pointment of secretary of the territory of Indiana; an office 
which he held till that territory became a state. At this time, 
finding that the infirmities of age were thickening on him, 
and labouring under an incurable cataract, he retired to 
Braddock's Field, the seat of his son-in-law, George Wallace, 
Esq. where he died on the 10th of April, 1822: having borne 
through life the character of a brave soldier and an honest 
man. 

The following is the speech of Logan, alluded to in the fore- 
going sketch, and which the compiler conceives will be proper 
in this place: 

Speech of Logan, a Mingo Chief, to Lord Dunmore, Governor 
of Virginia, 1774. 

" I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Lo- 
gan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat : if ever he came 
cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course 
of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his 
cabin, an advocate for peare. Sucli was my love for the 
whites* that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, 
* Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to 
have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Co- 
lonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, 
murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women 
■and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of 



166 GIBSON. 

any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have 
sought it : I have killed many : I have fully ghitted my ven- 
geance : for my country I rejoice at the beams of neace. But do 
not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never 
felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is 
there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 

GIBSON, George, generally known and admired for his 
wit and social qualities, and esteemed by all who knew him, 
for the honourable and generous feelings of his heart. Of 
the vast variety of anecdotes connected with him, the limits 
of a sketch do not admit of the few still retained in the recol- 
lection of his acquaintances: we have room only for a brief 
outline of his services to his country, which were neither few 
nor unimportant. 

He was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in October, 1774 . 
After passing through the usual academical course, he was 
placed in a respectable mercantile house in Philadelphia, and 
after the expiration of his apprenticeship, made several voya- 
ges to the West Indies as a supercargo. But growing tired 
of a pursuit which promised no rapid advancement, he retired 
to Fort Pitt, at that time a frontier post, within the actual ju- 
risdiction of Virginia, where his brother was established in 
the Indian trade. Here his brother-in-law, captain Callen- 
der, put under his direction a trading adventure to the Bri- 
tish post on the Illinois, which ended in the loss of the whole 
capital embarked. Discouraged by want of success in mer- 
cantile matters, he married and rented a farm and mills, near 
Carlisle, in Cumberland county, but was again unsuccessful, 
owing to a want of practical knowledge of the business into 
which he entered. In these circumstances the revolution found 
him: when leaving his wife and child under the care of her 
father, he returned to Fort Pitt, where he raised a company 
of one hundred men on his own authority. With these, he march- 
ed to Williamsburg, the seat of the government of Virginia, 
and was immediately appointed a captain in one of the two re- 
giments then raising by that state. His men possessed all 
that sense of individual independence, and all that hardihood 
and desperate daring which the absence of most of the re- 
straints of civilization, and familiarity with danger, never fails 
to produce on the inhabitants of an Indian frontier : qualities, 
which, although of inestimable value in the hour of battle, are 
not those which ensure a prompt obedience, and a ready sub- 
jection to discipline and the police of a camp : and this 
company, by its turbulence and the frequent battles of its 
members with the soldiers of every other corps with which it 
happened to be quartered, acquired the name of " Gibson's 
lambs f* an appellation which it retained long after captain 



GIBSON. 167 

Gibson had ceased to command it. It was composed entirely 
of sharp-shooters, and did good service on the 25th of Octo- 
ber, 1775, at the attack on the town of Hampton, by a naval 
force underlord Dunmore; where having arrived along with 
another company, by a forced march from Williamsburg, dur- 
ing the preceding night, it was posted in the houses fronting 
the water, whence the soldiers so galled the enemy with small 
arms, as to drive him from his position, with the loss of a 
number of men, and a tender, which fell into their possession. 
About this time, the scarcity of gunpowder in the army be- 
came alarming, and urgent applications were made bv gene- 
ral Washington to Congress, and the respective states, for a 
supply. As the article was not generally manufactured in the 
colonies, it was necessary to procure it from abroad; and for 
this purpose the attention of government was turned towards 
New Orleans. As Spain, however, could not furnish munitions 
of war to a belligerent, without a manifest breach of her neutra- 
lity, it was evident that the success of a negociation with one 
of her dependencies, would depend on the degree of secrecy 
and address with which it should be conducted ; and captain 
Gibson was selected as a person possessing, in an eminent de- 
gree, the qualifications required to manage it with the best 
prospect of success. Having received his credentials, he re- 
paired to Pittsburg, with twenty-five picked men of his com- 
pany, and descended the river with a cargo of flour, osten- 
sibly as a trader. The voyage was pregnant with adventures 
which possess all the freshness of the incidents of a romance; 
but of these, the limits of a rapid sketch like the present, pre- 
cludes the insertion of all but one. The Indians immediately 
on the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi, were hostile ; and 
parties of them in canoes frequently evinced an intention to 
attack the boat; but were deterred by the alacrity and deter- 
mined countenance of the crew. Captain Gibson arrived at 
the falls of the Ohio, in the evening about dusk, after having 
observed no indications of Indians for some days, and being 
without a pilot, he determined to land and pass the falls on 
the ensuing morning. But just as the men were fastening 
the boat to the shore, a strong party of Indians appeared on 
the bank above, and ordered them to come ashore. Resistance 
would have been useless, as it was plain that the lives of the 
crew were in their power; and captain Gibson was led be- 
tween two warriors with cocked rifles up the ascent to the In- 
dian camp, where he was interrogated by the chief. He told 
the most plausible story he was able suddenly to invent, of his 

| being an American deserter, on his way to join the British in 
Florida; but just as he seemed to have made a favourable im» 

I pression on the chief, his surprise may more easily be conceiv- 



168 GIBSON. 

ed than described, at being interrupted by a laugh from an In- 
dian who had before appeared inattentive to every thing that 
was passing, and who exclaimed in very good English, 
"Well done, George Gibson! And you think nobody here 
knows you!" But observing captain Gibson's consternation, 
who expected nothing less than to be shot down on the spot by 
his two attendants with the cocked rifles, he added, *'But 
shew no signs of fear. None of the party but myself under- 
stands a word of English: only keep your own secret and 
leave the rest to me, and I shall contrive to bring you off," 
which he very handsomely did. On being asked by captain 
Gibson how he had discovered his name, he answered that he 
had lived a long time about the house of his brother, the late 
general Gibson, at Fort Pitt, where he often heard the family 
speak of George; that he knew Thomas, his other brother, 
and as he at once had discovered captain Gibson to be a bro- 
ther of John's, he knew that he could be no other than George. 
He had received kindnesses from general Gibson, and in this 
way determined to shew his gratitude for them. 

Next morning they were permitted to depart, after being 
pilotted by an Indian over the falls. They were, however, 
pursued by the Indians, who either suspected, or had found out 
their true character, shortly after their departure, and who 
came up with them, in canoes, at a place called Henderson's 
Bend. They were suffered to approach pretty close, when a 
galling fire was opened on them by the crew of the boat, parti- 
cularly from swivels with which it was armed ; in consequence 
of which the Indians were thrown into such confusion that 
some of their canoes were overturned, and they desisted. 
They however, landed, and crossing the tongue of land which 
formed the bend, attacked the boat from both sides of the 
river, at a point lower down ; but without effect, the crew 
having suffered no loss, except that of two men wounded. 

On arriving at New Orleans, he entered on his negociation 
with the government, in which he was successful, being assist- 
ed by the influence of Oliver Pollock, Esq. an American gentle- 
man resident there, and in favour with Don Galvos, the govern- 
or, and to whose correspondent, the gunpowder was afterwards 
consigned. But as suspicions of the object were excited in the 
minds of the British merchants and commercial agents in the 
place, the governor deemed it prudent to have captain Gibson 
arrested. In a few days, however, lie was permitted to escape, 
being first provided with horses for himself and his servant. 
Having ascended the river as far as the first high land, he 
struck off into the wilderness; shortly after which his horses 
were stolen by Indians, and the rest of the journey (about 
eighteen hundred miles) was performed on foot through regions 



GIBSON. 169 

before Unvisitedby a white man, and among tribes of Indians 
whose language he frequently did not understand, but by 
whom he was invariably treated with kindness. Arriving at 
Pittsburg in the garb of an Indian, and with a complexion 
whose native brown had received the deepest tint which the 
rays of the sun could impart, he successfully passed himself 
for an Indian, on the officers of the garrison, many of whom 
had long been his intimate acquaintances. 

At his return to Williamsburg, he was appointed to the 
command of a state regiment, furnished by Virginia to make 
up a deficiency in her contingent of continental troops, and 
received by the United States on the continental establish- 
ment. With this regiment he joined the army under general 
Washington, shortly before the evacuation of York Island, 
and was arranged to the division of general Lee. This divi- 
sion followed the retreat of the grand army with lingering 
marches, and by a separate route, till the seizure of Lee's per- 
son by the enemy, near Morristown, when it quickened its 
pace under Sullivan, and formed a junction with Washington's 
army, at the cantonment, on the right bank of the Delaware. 
At the battle of Trenton, which soon followed, colonel Gib- 
son served under the immediate command of general Wash- 
ington, and participated in all the perils and toils of that gal- 
lant little army, whose subsequent achievements contributed 
so much to reanimate the drooping spirits of their country. 

He continued to serve in the army immediately commanded 
by general Washington, till the close of the campaign of 1778, 
and was in nearly all the principal battles which were fought 
during that time: but the period for which his men had been 
enlisted, having expired, and the regiment not being recruit- 
ed, he was ordered to the command of the depot of prisoners 
near York, Pennsylvania, which he retained till the end of 
the war. 

At the peace he retired to his farm in Cumberland county, 
and shortly afterwards received from the supreme executive 
council of the state, the commission of county lieutenant, the 
duties of which he performed till the beginning of 1791. At 
this time, being in Philadelphia, the seat of the federal gov- 
ernment, the command of one of the regiments, then raising 
for general St. Clair's expedition, was oifered to him by pre- 
sident Washington, in terms that precluded its rejection. The 
particulars of this disastrous campaign arc too well remem- 
bered to be narrated here. The troops were led from the re- 
cruiting rendezvous into the presence of the enemy without 
discipline, and destitute of many of the appointments and mu- 
nitions of war, which are essential to the efficiency of an ar- 
my. But more than any other cause, a want of harmony be- 

22 



170 GIBSON. 

tween the first and second in command, contributed ta pro 
duce the catastrophe with which the campaign ended. Colo- 
nel Gibson was the intimate friend of the latter, and this na- 
turally produced a want of cordiality towards him on the part 
of the former, which was so markedly evinced the day pre- 
ceding the action, as to induce him to express a determina- 
tion to retire from the service as soon as he could do so with- 
out disgrace. Next morning he was at the head of his regi- 
ment, which was literally cut to pieces, exhibiting a loss of 
eighteen commissioned officers, and more than half of its non- 
commissioned officers and privates. At the close of the ac- 
tion, and in the last of several charges which were executed 
by this regiment with the bayonet, he received a wound in 
the groin, which was immediately perceived to be mortal. He 
was brought off the field by his nephew, captain Slough, and 
one or two others of his surviving officers, and languished at 
Fort Jefferson till the 1 1th of December following, bearing 
the most excruciating pain, in a wretched hovel, without sur- 
gical attendance, and almost without common necessaries, with 
an equanimity of temper for which he had all his life been re- 
markable. 

It is not intended to speak harshly of general St. Clair, or 
to attribute to him an intention to do injustice to the memory 
of an unfortunate brother officer. He has himself paid the 
debt of nature, and it would now be dastardly to assail his re- 
putation, even if there were a desire to do so. He was a man 
of integrity, and a general of undoubted talent; and the coun- 
try owes much to his memory: still, however,, justice is equal- 
ly due to the memory of the subject of this notice. His regi- 
ment composed the right wing, which was under the com- 
mand of general Butler; but as a corps, it was under the im- 
mediate command of its colonel. This may be a satisfactory 
reason why, in speaking of the incidents of the battle, he was 
not mentioned in the official report. But the particular de- 
signation of this regiment as "Butler's, Patterson's and 
Clarke's battalions," might lead to an inference that the name 
of its colonel was studiously kept out of view. The omission 
of the name of colonel Gibson may have been, and probably 
was, accidental; but it was unjust. That his personal exer- 
tions during the action fell under the immediate observation 
of the commanding general, is proved by the testimony of 
captain Denny (one of the general's aids) in the investigation 
which took place by a committee of congress; an account of 
which was afterwards published by the general himself. By 
this it appears, (see St. Clair's Narrative, page 224, 5) that 
the general frequently gave orders to colonel Gibson in person; 
and that the latter, who after the fall of general Butler, com- 



GREENE. 171 

manded the right wing, by direction and under the eye of gen- 
eral St. Clair, charged a body of Indians who had broken in- 
to the camp and retook the part of it of which they had taken 
possession. There is no point in which an officer is so sensi- 
tive as in this; yet there is no criterion of merit more fallaci- 
ous than the official report of a battle. It is these reports, 
however, which, for the most part, settle the question with the 
historian. It is needless to mention, that the account of this 
battle, gken in Marshal's life of Washington, is taken exclu- 
sively from general St. Clair's report; and this renders it the 
more necessary to attempt an act of justice to the merits of 
colonel Gibson, even at this late day. 

Perhaps no man had a wider circle of acquaintance or warm- 
er friends among the principal actors in our great political 
drama, than the subject of this memoir. With his talents and 
capacity for business, and with the influence of those who had 
not only the power but the inclination to serve him; a man 
with a single eye to his own advancement, would at once have 
made his way to office and distinction; but, of this, he was 
culpably negligent. He never sought preferment, and when 
it came, it was at the solicitation of his friends, not of him- 
self Nature had endowed him with talents of the first order. 
He had a peculiar talent for acquiring languages, on account 
of which, his schoolmates gave him the name of Latin George. 
He spoke French, Spanish and German, the latter vernacu- 
larly and with the purity of a Saxon. He read Italian, and 
during his residence on the frontier, he picked up enough of 
the Delaware tongue to enable him to converse in it indiffer- 
ently well. Without being profound, his acquirements as a. 
scholar were respectable. Perhaps no man, with the same 
stock of information, conversed so well. Withe undoubtedly 
possessed in an eminent degree, which he used with such dis- 
cretion as never to make an enemy or lose a friend. In broad 
humor he was confessedly without a rival. He was the au- 
thor of several humorous songs, mostly connected with the 
politics of the revolution, which he sang with incredible ef- 
fect, but which, as they were never committed to paper, have 
passed away along with him, and arc now forgotten. 

GREENE, Nathaniel, a major general in the army of 
the United States, and one of the most distinguished officers 
in the revolutionary war, was born in the town of Warwick, 
in Rhode Island, in the year 1741. His parents were Qua- 
kers. His father was a respectable anchor-smith. Being in- 
tended for the business his father pursued, young Greene re- 
ceived nothing but a common English education. But, to 
himself, an acquisition so humble and limited, was unsatisfac- 
tory and mortifying. While he was a boy he learned the 



172 GREENE. 

Latin language chiefly by his own industry. Having pro- 
cured, in part by his own economy, a small library, he spent 
his evenings, and all the time he could redeem from business, 
in regular study. He read with a view to general improve- 
ment ; but military history occupied a considerable share of 
his attention, and constituted his delight. 

He embarked in his father's line of business, and in the reg- 
ular pursuit of it employed a considerable portion of his time, 
until he was elevated, at an unusually early age, to a seat in 
the legislature of his native colony. In this situation, the 
commencement of the revolutionary war found him ; and, the 
undisguised part which he took in promoting an appeal to 
arms, caused him to be dismissed from the society of friends, 
of which he had antecedently been a member. 

He began his military career as a private in a military as- 
sociation, of which he was the principal promoter, and which 
was chartered under the name of the Kentish Guards, and com 
manded by general James M. Varnum. But in the year 1775, 
Rhode Island having raised three regiments of militia, amount- 
ing in the whole to about sixteen hundred, and officered by 
some of her most distinguished inhabitants, she placed them 
under the command of Mr. Greene, with the rank of Briga- 
dier general, who, without loss of time, conducted them to 
head-quarters, in the village of Cambridge. 

Here, having, by a single act of promotion, after a noviciate 
of about seven months, exchanged the rank of a private, for 
that of a general officer, he soon distinguished himself, in his 
present station, and offered to others, a most salutary example. 
This he did in a very special manner, and, with the happiest 
effect, by his prompt obedience to the commands of his superi- 
ors, at a time, when the subordination, which alone can pen-? 
der an army efficient and powerful, was not yet established ; 
by habits of strict and laborous attention, in the regular study 
of the military science; and by the excellent discipline, which 
he caused to be introduced into his own brigade. 

General Greene's merit and abilities, as well in the council 
as in the field, were not long unnoticed by general Washing- 
ton, who reposed in him the utmost confidence, and paid a 
particular deference to his advice and opinion, on all occa- 
sions of doubt and difficulty. 

He was appointed major general by congress, the 26th of 
August, 1776. Towards the close of that year, he was at the 
Trenton surprise; and, at the beginning of the next, was at 
the battle of Princeton, two enterprises not more happily 
planned than judiciously and bravely executed, in both of 
which he highly distinguished himself, serving his noviciate 
under the American Fabius. 



GREENE. ir| 

At the battle of Germantown lie commanded the left wing 
of the American army; and his utmost endeavors were exert- 
ed to retrieve the fortune of that day, in which his conduct met 
with the approbation of the commander in chief. 

In March, 1778, he was appointed quarter-master-general, 
which office he accepted under a stipulation, that his rank in 
the army should not be affected by it, and that he should re- 
tain his right to command, in time of action, according to his 
rank and seniority. This he exercised at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, where he commanded the right wing of the army. 

About the middle of the same year, an attack being planned 
by the Americans, in conjunction with the French fleet, on the 
British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island, general Sullivan 
was appointed to the command, under whom general Greene 
served. This attempt was unsuccessful: the French fleet hav- 
ing sailed out of the harbor, to engage lord Howe's fleet, they 
were dispersed by a storm, and the Americans were obliged 
to raise the siege of Newport, in doing which, general Greene 
displayed a great degree of skill, in drawing off the army in 
safety. 

After the hopes of the British generals, to execute some de- 
cisive stroke to the northward were frustrated, they turned 
their attention to the southern states, as less capable of de- 
fence, and more likely to reward .the invaders with ample 
plunder. A grand expedition was, in consequence, planned 
at New- York, where the army embarked on the 26th of De- 
cember, 1779: they landed on the 11th of February, 1780, 
within about thirty miles of Charleston, which, after a brave 
defence, was surrendered to sir Henry Clinton, on the 12th 
of May. 

A series of ill success followed this unfortunate event. The 
American arms in South Carolina, were, in general, unsuc- 
cessful; and the inhabitants were obliged to submit to the in- 
vaders, whose impolitic severity was extremely ill calculated 
to answer any of the objects for which the war had been com- 
menced. 

Affairs were thus circumstanced, when general Washington 
appointed general Greene to the command of the American 
forces in the southern district. He arrived at Charlotte on 
the 2d day of December, 1780, accompanied by general Mor- 
gan, a brave officer, who had distinguished himself to the 
northward, in the expedition against Burgoyne. He found 
the forces he was to command, reduced to a very small num- 
ber, by defeat and by desertion. The returns were nine hun- 
dred and seventy continentals, and one thousand and thirteen 
militia. Military stores, provisions, forage, and all things 
necessary, were, if possible, in a more reduced state than his 



174 GREENE. 

army. His men were without pay, and almost without cloth- 
ing: and supplies of the latter were not to be had, but from 
a distance of two hundred miles. In this perilous and em- 
barrassed situation, he had to oppose a respectable and victo- 
rious army. Fortunately for him, the conduct of some of 
the friends of royalty obliged numbers, otherwise disposed to 
remain neuter, to take up arms in their own defence. This, 
and the prudent measures the general took for removing the 
innumerable difficulties and disadvantages he was surrounded 
with, and for conciliating the affections of the inhabitants, 
soon brought together a considerable force; far inferior, how- 
ever, to that of the British, who deemed the country perfectly 
subjugated. 

After he had recruited his forces with all the friends to the 
revolution that he could assemble, he sent a considerable de- 
tachment under general Morgan, to the western extremities of 
the state, to protect the well-disposed inhabitants from the ra- 
vages of the tories. This force, which was the first that had 
for a considerable time appeared there, on the side of the Ame- 
ricans, inspired the friends of liberty with new courage, so 
that numbers of them crowded to the standard of general 
Morgan, who, at length, became so formidable, that lord 
Cornwallis thought proper to send colonel Tarleton, to dis- 
iodge him from the station he had taken. This officer was at 
the head of a thousand regular troops, and had two field 
pieces. He came up, on the 17th of January, 1781, at a 
place called Cowpens, with general Morgan, whose force was 
much inferior, and was composed of two-thirds militia, and 
one third continentals. An engagement was the immediate 
consequence. 

Morgan gained a complete victory over an officer, the ra- 
pidity and success of whose attacks, until that time, might 
have entitled him to make use of the declaration of Cfesar, 
"veni, vidi, vici." Upwards of five hundred of the British 
laid down their arms, and were made prisoners; a very con- 
siderable number were killed. Eight hundred stand of arms, 
two field pieces, and thirty-five baggage-wagons fell to the 
victors, who had only twelve killed and sixty wounded. 

This brilliant success quite disconcerted the plan of opera- 
tions formed by lord Cornwallis. Having entertained no idea 
of any enemy to oppose in South Carolina, the conquest of 
which lie deemed complete, he had made every preparation 
for carrying his arms to the northward, to gather the laurels 
which, he imagined, awaited him. He now found himself 
obliged to postpone this design. He marched with rapidity 
after general Morgan, in hopes not only to recover the pri- 
soners, but to revenge Tarleton's losses. The American ge» 



GREENE. 175 

ueral, by a rapidity of movements, and the interference of 
Providence, eluded his efforts; and general Greene effected a 
junction of the two divisions of his little army, on the 7th of 
February. Still he was so far inferior to lord Cornwallis, 
that he was obliged to retreat northward; and, notwithstand- 
ing the vigilance and activity of his enemy, he brought his 
men in safety into Virginia. 

In Virginia, general Greene received some reinforcements, 
and had the promise of more; on which he returned again in- 
to North Carolina, where, on their arrival, he hoped to be 
able to act on the offensive. He encamped in the vicinity of 
lord Cornwallis's army. By a variety of the best concerted 
manoeuvres, he so judiciously supported the arrangement of 
his troops, by the secrecy and promptitude of his motions, 
that, during three weeks, while the enemy remained near him, 
he prevented them from taking any advantage of their supe- 
riority; and even cut off all opportunity of their receiving 
succours from the royalists. 

About the beginning of March, he effected a junction with 
a continental regiment, and two considerable bodies of Vir- 
ginia and Carolina militia. He then determined on attacking 
the British commander without loss of time, "being persua- 
ded," as he declared in his subsequent dispatches, *' that, if he 
was successful, it would prove ruinous to the enemy; and, if 
otherwise, that it would be but a partial evil to him." On 
the 14th, he arrived at Guilford court-house, the British then 
lying at twelve miles distance. 

His army consited of about four thousand five hundred men, 
of whom near two thirds were North Carolina and Virginia 
militia. The British were about two thousand four hundred; 
all regular troops, and the greater part inured to toil and ser- 
vice in their long expedition under lord Cornwallis, who, on 
the morning of the 15th, being apprised of general Greene's 
intentions, marched to meet him. The latter disposed his 
army in three lines ; the militia of North Carolina were in 
front ; the second line was composed of those of Virginia ; 
and the third, which was the flower of the army, was formed 
of continental troops, near fifteen hundred in number. They 
were flanked on both sides by cavalry and riflemen, and were 
posted on a rising ground, a mile and a half from Guilford 
court house. 

The engagement commenced at half after one o'clock, by a 
brisk cannonade ; after which, the British advanced in three 
columns ; and attacked the first line, composed of North Ca- 
rolina militia. These, who, probably, had never been in ac- 
tion before, were panic struck at the approach of the enemy ; 
and many of them ran away without firing a gun, or being 



176 GREENE. 

fired upon, and even before the British had come nearer than 
one hundred and forty yards to them. Part of them, however, 
fired ; but they then followed the example of their comrades* 
Their officers made every possible effort to rally them ; but the 
advantages of their position, nor any other consideration, 
could induce them to maintain their ground. This shameful 
conduct had a great effect upon the issue of the battle. Th& 
next line, however, behaved much better. They fought with 
great bravery ; and were thrown into disorder; rallied, re- 
turned to the charge, and kept up a heavy fire for a long time; 
but were at length broken, and driven on the third line, when 
the engagement became general, very severe, and very bloody. 
At length, superiority of dicipline carried the day from supe- 
riority of numbers. The conflict endured an hour and a half; 
and was terminated by general Greene's ordering a retreat, 
when he perceived that the enemy were on the point of encir- 
cling his troops. 

This was a hard fought action. Lord Cornwallis stated his 
losses in killed, wounded, and missing, at five hundred and 
thirty-two, among whom were several officers of considerable 
rank. But this battle was, nevertheless, decisive in its conse- 
quences. Lord Cornwallis was, three days after, obliged to 
make aretrogade motion: and to return to Wilmington, situ- 
ated two hundred miles from the scene of action. He was 
even under the necessity of abandoning a considerable number 
of those who were dangerously wounded. The loss of the 
Americans was about four hundred, killed and wounded. 

Some time after the battle of Guilford, general Greene de- 
termined to return to South Carolina, to endeavor to expel the 
British from that state. His first object was to attempt the 
reduction of Camden, where lord Rawdon was posted with 
about nine hundred men. The strength of this place, which 
was covered on the south and east side by a river and creek, 
and to the westward and northward by six redoubts, render- 
ed it impracticable to carry it by storm, with the small army 
general Greene had, consisting of about seven hundred conti- 
nentals, the militia having gone home. He, therefore, en- 
camped at about a mile from the town, in order to prevent sup- 
plies from being brought in, and to take advantages of such 
favorable circumstances as might occur. 

Lord Rawdon's situation was extremely delicate. Colonel 
Watson, whom he had some time before detached, for the pro* 
teetion of the eastern frontiers, and to whom he had, on in- 
telligence of general Greene's intentions, sent orders to re- 
turn to Camden, was so effectually watched by general Ma- 
rion, that it was impossible for him to obey. His lordship's 
supplies were, moreover, very precarious; and should general 



GREENE. 177 

Greene's reinforcements arrive, he might be so closely in vest* 
etl, as to be at length obliged to surrender. In this dilemma, 
the best expedient that suggested itself, was a bold attark; 
for which purpose, he armed every person with him, capable 
of carrying a musket, not excepting his musicians and drum- 
mers. He sallied out on the 25th of April, and attacked ge- 
neral Greene in bis camp. The defence was obstinate; and 
for some part of the engagement the advantage appeared to 
he in favor of America. Lieutenant colonel Washington, who 
commanded the cavalry, had at one time not less than two 
hundred British prisoners. However, by the misconduct of 
one of the American regiments, victory was snatched from 
general Greene, who was compelled to retreat. He lost in 
the action about two hundred killed, wounded and prisoners, 
Rawdon lost about two hundred and fifty-eight; 

There was a great similarity between the consequences of 
the affair at Guilford, and those of this action. In the former, 
lord Cornwallis was successful, but was afterwards oblig- 
ed to retreat two hundred miles from the scene of action, and 
for a time abandoned the grand object of penetrating to the 
northward. In the latter, lord Rawdon had the honor of the 
field; but was shortly after reduced to the necessity of aban- 
doning his post, and leaving behind him a number of sick and 
wounded. 

The evacuation of Camden, with the vigilance of general 
Greene, and the several officers he employed, gave a new com- 
plexion to affairs in South Carolina, where the British ascen- 
dancy declined more rapidly than it had been established. 
The numerous forts, garrisoned by the enemy, fell, one after 
the other, into the hands of the Americans. Orangeburg, 
Motte, Watson, Georgetown Granby, and others, fort Nine- 
ty-Six excepted, were surrendered; and a very considerable 
number of prisoners of war, with military stores and artillery, 
were found in them. 

On the 22d May, general Greene sat down before Ninety- 
Six, with the main part of his little army. The siege was 
carried on for a considerable time with great spirit; and the 
place was defended with equal bravery. At length, the work9 
were so far reduced, that a surrender must have been made 
in a few days, when a reinforcement of three regiments, from 
Europe, arrived at Charleston, which enabled lord Rawdon 
to proceed to relieve this important post. The superiority of 
the enemy's force reduced general Greene to the alternative 
of abandoning the siege altogether, or, previous to their arri- 
val, of attempting the fort by storm. The latter was more 
agreeable to his enterprising spirit: and an attack was made 
on the morning of the 19th of June. He was repulsed, with 



178 GREENE. 

the loss of one hundred and fifty men. He raised the siege, 
and retreated over the Saluda. 

Dr. Ramsay, speaking of the state of affairs ahout this pe- 
riod, says, "truly distressing was the situation of the Ameri- 
can army, when in the grasp of victory, to be obliged to ex 
pose themselves to a hazardous assault, and afterwards to 
abandon a siege. When they were nearly masters of the whole 
country, to be compelled to retreat to its extremity: and after' 
subduing the greatest part of the force sent against them, to 
be under the necessity of encountering still greater reinforce- 
ments, when their remote situation precluded them from the 
hope of receiving a single recruit. In this gloomv situation, 
there were not wanting persons who advised general Greene 
to leave the state, and retire with his remaining forces to Vir- 
ginia. To arguments and suggestions of this kind he nobly 
replied, 'I will recover the country, or die in the attempt. 5 
This distinguished officer, whose genius was most vigorous 
in those extremities, when feeble minds abandon themselves to 
despair, adopted the only resource now r left him, of avoiding 
an engagement, until the British force should be divided." 

Some skirmishes, of no great moment, took place between 
the detached parties of both armies, in July and August. Sep- 
tember the 9th, general Greene having assembled about two 
thousand men, proceeded to attack the British, who, under 
the command of colonel Stewart, were posted at Eutaw 
Springs. The American force was drawn up in two lines: 
the first, composed of Carolina militia, was commanded by 
generals Marion and Pickens, and colonel de Malmedy. The 
second, which consisted of continental troops, from North 
Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, was commanded by gene- 
ral Sumpter, lieutenant colonel Campbell, and colonel Wil- 
liams; lieutenant colonel Lee, with his legion, covered the 
right flank; and lieutenant colonel Henderson, with the state 
troops, covered the left. A corps de reserve was formed of 
the cavalry, under lieutenant colonel Washington, and the 
Delaware troops under captain Kirkwood. As the Amci-i 
cans came forward to the attack, they fell in with some ad- 
vanced parties of the enemy, at about two or three miles 
ahead of the main body. These being closely pursued, were 
driven back, and the action soon became general. The militia 
•were at length forced to give way, but were bravely supported 
by the second line. In the hottest part of the engagement, 
general Greene ordered the Maryland and Virginia continen- 
tals to charge with trailed arms. This decided the fate of 
the day. "Nothing," says Dr. Ramsay, "could surpass the 
intrepidity of both officers and men on this occasion. They 
rushed on in good order through a heavy cannonade, and a 



GREENE. 179 

shower of musketry, with such unshaken resolution, that they 
bore down all before them." The British were broken, 
closely pursued, and upwards of five hundred of them taken 
prisoners. They, however, made a fresh stand, in a favour- 
able position, in impenetrable shrubs and a picquetted garden. 
Lieutenant colonel Washington, after having made every ef- 
fort to dislodge them, was wounded and taken prisoner. 
Four six pounders were brought forward to play upon them, 
but they fell into their hands : and the endeavours to drive 
them from their station, being found impracticable, the Ame- 
ricans retired, leaving a strong picquet on the field of battle. 
Their loss was about five hundred; that of the British upwards 
of eleven hundred. 

General Greene was honoured by congress with a British 
standard, and a gold medal, emblematical of the engagement, 
"for his wise, decisive, and magnanimous conduct, in the ac- 
tion at Eutaw Springs, in which, with a force inferior in 
number to that of the enemy, he obtained a most signal vic- 
tory." 

In the evening of the succeeding day, colonel Stewart aban- 
doned his post, and retreated towards Charleston, leaving 
behind upwards of seventy of his wounded, and a thousand 
stand of arms. He was pursued a considerable distance, but 
in vain. 

The battle of Eutaw produced the most signal consequences 
in favour of America. The British, who had for such a 
length of time, lorded it absolutely in South Carolina, were, 
shortly after that event, obliged to confine themselves in 
Charleston, whence they never ventured but to make preda- 
tory excursions, with bodies of cavalry, which in general, met 
with a very warm and very unwelcome reception. 

In Dr. Caldwell's memoirs of the life of general Greene, 
we have the following interesting story, as connected with 
the severe conflict at Eutaw Springs: 

"Two young officers, bearing the same rank, met in per- 
sonal combat. The American, perceiving that the Briton had 
a decided superiority in the use of the sabre, and being himself 
of great activity, and personal strength almost gigantic, clos- 
ed with his adversary and made him his prisoner. 

" Gentlemanly, generous, and high minded, this event, add- 
ed to a personal resemblance which they were observed to bear 
to each other, produced between these two youthful warriors, 
an intimacy, which increased in a short time, to a mutual at- 
tachment. 

" Not long after the action, the American officer returning 
home, on furlough, to settle some private business, obtained, 
permission for his friend to accompany him. 



180 GREENE. 

" Travelling without attendants or guard, they were both 
armed and well mounted. Part of their route lay through a 
settlement, highly disaffected to the American cause. 

"When, in the midst of this, having, in consequence of a 
shower of rain, thrown around them their cloaks, which con- 
cealed their uniforms, they were suddenly encountered by a 
detachment of tories. 

"The young American, determined to die rather than be- 
come a prisoner, especially to men whom he held in abhor- 
rence for disloyalty to their country, and the generous Briton 
resolved not to survive one by whom he had been distinguish- 
ed and treated so kindly, they both together, with great spirit 
and self possession, charged the royalists, having first made sig- 
nals in their rear, as if directing others to follow them ; and 
thus, without injury on either side, had the address and good 
fortune, to put the party to flight. 

"Arriving in safety at the place of their destination, what 
was their surprise and augmented satisfaction, on finding, 
from some questions proposed by the American officer's father, 
that they were first cousins ! 

" With increasing delight, the young Briton passed several 
Weeks in the family of his kinsman, where the writer of this 
narrative saw him daily, and often listened, with the rapture 
of a child, to the checkered story of his military adventures. 

"To heighten the occurrence, and render it more roman- 
tic, the American officer had a sister, beautiful and accom- 
plished, whose heart soon felt for the gallant stranger, more 
than the affection due to a cousin. The attachment was mu- 
tual. 

"But here the adventure assumes a tragical cast. The 
youthful foreigner, being exchanged, was summoned to return 
to his regiment. The message was fatal to his peace. — 
But military honour demanded the sacrifice; and the lady, 
generous and high minded as himself, would not be instru- 
mental in dimming his laurels. 

*' The parting scene was a high-wrought picture of tender- 
ness and sorrow. On taking leave, the parties mutually 
bound themselves, by a solemn promise, to remain* single a 
certain number of years, in the hope that an arrangement 
contemplated might again bring them together. A few weeks 
afterwards the lady expired under an attack of small-pox. 
The fate of the officer we never learnt." 

It has already been mentioned, that Greene's army was in 
a deplorable situation, and suffered under every privation. In 
his letters to the secretary at war, he says, " We have three 
hundred men without arms, and more than one thousand so 
naked, that they can be put on duty only in cases of a despe- 



GREENE. 181 

i'ate nature. We have been all winter in want of arms and 
clothing. The subsistence of the army is wretched, and we 
are without rum, or any kind of spirits." 

Again, he says, ''Our difficulties are so numerous, and 
our wants so pressing, that I have not a moment's relief from 
the most painful anxieties. I have more embarrassment than 
it is proper to disclose to the world. Let it suffice to say, that 
this part of the United States, has had a narrow escape. I 
have been s$ven months in the field without taking off mi] 
clothes." 

Judge Johnson, in his life of general Greene, says, "At 
the battle of the Eutaw Springs, Greene says, 'that hundreds 
of my men were as naked as they were born.' Posterity will 
scarcely believe, that the bare loins of many brave men who 
carried death into the enemy's ranks at the Eutaw, were gall- 
ed by their cartouch-boxes, while a folded rag or a tuft of 
moss protected the shoulders from sustaining the same injury 
from the musket. Men of other times will enquire, by what 
magic was this army kept together? By what supernatural 
power was it made to fight?" 

During the relaxation that followed, a dangerous plot was 
formed by some turbulent and mutinous persons in the army, 
to deliver up their hrave general to the British. This trea- 
sonable design owed its rise to the hardships, wants and ca- 
lamities of the soldiers, who were ill paid, ill clothed, and ill 
fed. The conspirators did not exceed twelve in number; and 
a providential discovery defeated the project. 

The following account of the contemplated mutiny of the 
army under general Greene, we copy from " Garden's anec- 
dotes of the revolutionary war :" 

'• Destitute of clothing ; stinted in food ; severely afflicted 
by disease, discontent began to manifest itself in the most ap- 
palling colours. The first indication of it, was a placard near 
the quarters of general St. Clair, to this effect; "can soldiers 
be expected to do their duty, clothed in rags, and fed on rice?" 
Suspicion attaching to a few disorganizing characters, they, 
to escape punishment, went over to the enemy, and tranquili- 
ty was, for a time, restored. The embers, however, that had 
been smothered, but not extinguished, were speedily revived, 
and were ready to burst into a flame, through the intrigues of 
a sergeant of the Pennsylvanians, and two domestics attached 
to the family of general Greene, who opened a correspondence 
with the enemy, and engaged, on a given day, to deliver up 
their commander, and every officer of distinction. A female, 
who had noticed the murmuring of the disaffected, and unguard- 
ed expressions of the ringleader, occasioned the discovery of 
the plot. The light troops, who had for some little time been 



182 GREENE. 

indulged with comfortable quarters in the rear, to recover from 
the fatigues of severe service, were immediately brought for- 
ward. To them, not a shade of suspicion attached. Wash- 
ington's, Gill's and the legion cavalry, took their station in 
advance. The Delawares, Smith's company of Virginia re- 
gulars, and legion infantry, were drawn nearer to head-quar- 
ters. A troop of horse was pushed forward to watch the mo- 
tions of the enemy. The sergeant was arrested, tried, and ex- 
ecuted. The fate of the country was suspended by a thread ; 
destruction would inevitably have followed irresolution.— 
Greene was sensible of it, and striking with decision, gave a 
death blow to faction, and every symptom of revolt. It was 
a melancholy sight, awful indeed, and appalling, to behold a 
youth, an Apollo in shape, as fine a military figure as ever 
trod the earth, led forth to pay the penalty of his perfidy. He 
walked with a firm step, and composed countenance, distri- 
buting as he passed along, to such of his companions as ap- 
proached him, several articles of his clothing, at that period 
precious legacies. His hat he gave to one, his coat to ano- 
ther, his sleeve buttons to a third. Every countenance ex- 
pressed sorrow, but not a murmur was heard. Arrived at the 
fatal spot, he in few words, but in the most impressive man- 
neer, called upon his comrades, " not to sully their glory, nor 
forego the advantages they would speedily realize from the 
termination of the war: and if a thought of desertion was har- 
boured in their bosoms, at once to discard it. I have no cause 
(he added) to complain of the Court ; I certainly spoke impru- 
dently, and from the evidence given of my guilt, they could 
not have acted otherwise." He then gave the signal to the 
platoon selected from his own corps ; was fired on, and ex- 
pired. Great pains were taken by General Greene, as soon 
as suspicion was excited, to make a full discovery. As soon, 
however, as sufficient evidence was obtained, he waited not to 
ascertain the extent of the evil, but by a decided step crushed 
it effectually. The delay of a few hours must have occasion- 
ed the loss of our officers, and probably the death of every 
faithful soldier. O'Neal had been sent to watch the motions 
of the enemy, accompanied by Middleton as his second, and 
captain Rudolph, who had volunteered. Passing Bacon and 
Eagle bridges, they patrolled the road for several miles below 
Dorchester, and seeing no appearance of any party without, 
their lines, wheeled his troop to return. Rudolph, with two 
dragoons, was in advance. On a sudden three well mounted 
black troopers appeared in front. These were immediately 
charged. The chief fell by the arm of a Pope, a soldier of 
distinguished gallantry. Rudolph dismounted the second, and 
made him a prisoner : the third escaped. The captive being 



GREENE. 183 

asked if the British calvary were out in force, declared ; 
"That a single troop under the command of captain Dawkins, 
had gone by the way of Goose Creek Bridge, a few miles 
higher, and were to return by the way of Dorchester." Know- 
ing the firmness of Rudolph, the valour of Middleton, and 
tried bravery of his troop, O'Neal pushed forward in full ex- 
pectation of a complete triumph. Dawkins was soon discovered 
passing through the village of Dorchester, and bearing down 
upon him. The charge was sounded on both sides, and a 
fierce conflict began ; but before any material advantage could 
be gained, the bugle was heard from another quarter, and in- 
fantry rose in every direction. A road leading towards Goose 
creek, afforded the only chance of retreat: this was immediately 
taken, and though exposed to a heavy fire, the officers, and 
most of the privates escaped without injury. Nine men and 
fifteen horses of the troop fell into the hands of the enemy." 

The surrender of lord Cornwallis, whose enterprising spi- 
rit had been by the British ministry expected to repair- the 
losses, and wipe away the disgrace which had been incurred 
through the inactivity and indolence of other generals, having 
convinced them of the impractability of subjugating Ameri- 
ca, they discontinued offensive operations in every quarter. 
From the beginning of the year 1782, it was currently re- 
ported that Charleston was speedily to be evacuated: it was 
officially announced the 7th of August, but it did not take 
place until the 17th of December. 

The happy period at length arrived, when, by the virtue 
and bravery of her sons, aided by the bounty of heaven, Ame- 
rica compelled her invaders to recognise her independence. — ■ 
Then her armies quitted the tented fields, and retired to cul- 
tivate the arts of peace and happiness. Amongst the rest, 
general Greene revisited his native country, where he proved 
himself as valuable a citizen, as the Carolinas had witnessed 
him a gallant officer. 

We have mentioned Judge Johnson's life of general Greene. 
This work is in two volumes quarto, and gives a particular 
account of the transactions, and indeed of the campaigns, &c. 
of the war in the southern states, by William Johnson, Esq, 
of South Carolina, and one of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. At the conclusion of the work, 
he makes the following just remarks: 

"We will now dismiss the reader with these remarks. Te 
the young and the lowly, the incidents of general Greene's life 
hold out a most valuable moral. They show, with certainty, 
that there is no condition which may not be improved by vir- 
tue and perseverance; that the acquirement of knowledge 
leads directly to eminence; and that the most persevering la- 



184 GREENE. 

bour is not inconsistent with the improvement of the mind, 
when the mind is steadily bent upon its own improvement. 
And let no discouraging inferences be drawn from the perse- 
cutions which he underwent from envy and detraction. They 
will fasten on eminence; and to quote the general's own lan- 
guage, " every one but an idiot will have enemies." These 
are among the trials incident to human life; and they will at- 
tack those most severely, who raise themselves from obscu- 
rity. Men cannot bear mortifying comparisons; and, there- 
fore, envy those most, who have risen from among themselves. 
But, it is a most consoling evidence that truth will never be 
abandoned; that after such a lapse of time, we find the fame of 
this great and good man, vindicated by the production of evi- 
dence which cannot be resisted. The plain inference is, that 
we do our duty, and trust to Providence for the rest. 

" To all, we will take the liberty to suggest another re- 
mark. It is related of general Washington, that after the de- 
feat of Braddock, an eminent divine declared from the pulpit, 
'that Heaven had preserved that young man for some great 
and wise purposes.' 

" If we contemplate the early events of general Greene's life, 
we perceive in them, a striking aptness of preparation for the 
part he was destined to act in the revolutionary contest. Sub- 
dued, but not broken down under parental authority, he learn- 
ed obedience and dicipline, and how to inforce it on others; 
but, above all, self-command. Cast on himself for the grati- 
fication of every wish of his heart, he learned that great les- 
son of self-dependence, which he had, so often afterwards, to 
bring into exercise. With nerves strung to labour, he was 
prepared for all the fatigues and hardships of war; and habits 
of temperance taught him to bear, and by his example, to 
teach others to bear, all privations of war. Yet, all this pre- 
paration was casual, and less than all things, intended to fit 
him for a military life. 

"Nor was his moral and religious education less adapted 
to the part he was to act on the theatre of the revolution. The 
religion of the Quakers, stripped of those tenets which unfit it 
for this nether world, is really the political religion of the 
United States. Universal benevolence, and unbounded tole- 
ration, were their favourite doctrines. He still continued a 
Quaker,, as far as the religion of the Quakers comported with 
the defence of civ il liberty: and thus blended the soldier with 
all that stern morality, and simplicity of character, which 
distinguish the sect he belonged to." 

In October, 1785. general Greene sailed to Georgia, where 
he had a considerable estate, not far distant from Savannah. 
Here he passed away his time, occupied in his domestic con- 
cerns, until the hour of his mortality approached* 



GREENE. 185 

Walking out, without his hat, in the afternoon of the 15th 
of June, 1786, the day being intensely hot, he was suddenly 
attacked with such a vertigo and prostration of strength, as 
to be unable to return to his house, without assistance. The 
affection was what is denominated a "stroke of the sun." It 
Was succeeded by fever, accompanied with stupor, delirium, 
and a disordered stomach. All efforts to subdue it proved 
fruitless, and it carried him off on the 19th of the same month. 

When the melancholy account of his death arrived at Sa- 
vannah, the people were struck with the deepest sorrow, ill 
business was suspended. The shops and stores throughout 
the town were shut; and the shipping in the harbor had their 
colours half-masted. 

The body was brought to Savannah, and interred on the 
20th. The funeral procession was attended by the Cincinna- 
ti, militia, &c. &c. 

Immediately after the interment of the corpse, the mem- 
bers of the Cincinnati retired to the coffee-house in Savannah, 
and came to the following resolution: 

"That, as a token of the high respect and veneration in 
which this society hold the memory of their late illustrious 
brother, major-general Greene, deceased, George Washing- 
ton Greene, his eldest son, be admitted a member of this so- 
ciety, to take his seat on his arriving at the age of 18 years." 

General Greene left behind him a wife and five children. 

On Tuesday the 12th of August, 1786, the United States 
in congress assembled, came to the following resolution: 

''That a monument be erected to the memory of Nathaniel 
Greene, Esq. at the scat of the federal government, with the 
following inscription: 

Sacred to the memory of 
NATHANIEL GREENE, Esq. 

Who departed this life, 
On the 19th of June, mdcclxxxvi: 

LATE MAJOR GENERAL 

In the service of the United States, 
And commander of their army 
In the southern department. 
The United States, in Congress assembled, 
In honour of his 
Patriotism, valour, and ability, 
Have erected this monument. 
GREENE, Christopher, lieutenant colonel commandant 
of one of the Rhode Island regiments in the continental ser- 
vice, during the revolutionary war, was born in the town of 
Warwick, in the state of Rhode Island, in the year 1737. 
Philip Greene, the father of the lieutenant colonel, was a gen- 

24 



286 GREENE. 

tleman of the first respectability in the state, beloved for Lis 
virtues, and admired for his honourable discharge of the du^ 
ties of the various stations to which he was called, the last 
of which placed him upon the bench as judge of the common 
pleas in the county of Kent. 

Christopher received all the advantages in the best line of 
education procurable in our country, which he took care toim^ 
prove by the most assiduous application. 

He was particularly attached to the study of mathematics, 
in which he made great proficiency, and thus laid up a stork 
of knowledge exactly suitable for that profession to which he 
was afterwards unexpectedly called. 

Exhibiting in early life his capacity and amiability, he was 
elected, by his native town when very young, to a seat in the 
colonial legislature, which he continued to fill by successive 
elections until the commencement of the revolutionary war. 
At this period the legislature wisely established a military 
corps, styled, "Kentish guards," for the purpose of fitting 
the most select of her youth for military office. In this corps 
young Greene was chosen a lieutenant, and in May, 1775, he 
was appointed by the legislature a major in what was then 
called u an army of observations," one brigade of one thou- 
sand six hundred effectives, under the orders of his near rela- 
tion, general Nathaniel Greene, afterwards so celebrated. 

From this situation he was called to the command of a com- 
pany of infantry, in one of the regiments raised by the state 
for continental service. The regiment to which he belonged 
was attached to the army of Canada, conducted by general 
Montgomery, in the vicissitudes and difficulties of which cam- 
paign captain Greene shared, evincing upon all occasions that 
unyielding intrepidity which marked his military prowess 
in every after scene. In the attack upon Quebec, which ter- 
minated as well the campaign as the life of the renowned Mont- 
gomery, captain Greene belonged to the column which enter- 
ed the lower town, and was made prisoner. 

His elevated mind illy brooked the ills and irksomencss of 
captivity, though in the hands of the enlightened and humane 
Carleton ; and it has been uniformly asserted, that while a. 
prisoner, Greene often declared that "he would never again 
betaken alive;" aresolution unhappily fulfilled. 

As soon as captain Greene was exchanged he repaired to 
his regiment, with which he continued without intermission, 
performing with exemplary propriety the various duties of his 
progressive stations, when he was promoted to the majority 
of Varnum's regiment. In 1777, he succeeded to the com- 
mand of the regiment, and was selected by Washington to 
lake charge of fort Mercer, on the river Delaware, (common- 



GREENE. 187 

iy called Red Bank) the safe keeping of which post, with that 
of fort Mifflin, (Mud Island) was very properly deemed of 
primary importance. 

The following account of the attack upon Red Bank and 
fort Mifflin, we select from Marshall's life of Washington : 

The British general and admiral, Howe, immediately after 
the battle of Brandywine, made a combined attack, by land 
and water, on the forts, Mercer and Mifflin. 

" After effecting a passage through the works sunk in the 
river at Billingsport, other difficulties still remained to be en- 
countered by the ships of war. Several rows of chevaux-de 
frizehad been sunk about half a mile below Mud island, which 
were protected by the guns of forts Mifflin and Mercer, as 
well by the moveable water force, so that to raise the frames 
and clear the channel was impracticable, without having first 
taken the forts. 

"On the 21st, colonel count Donop a German officer, who 
had gained great reputation in the course of the war, crossed 
the Dclaw are at Cooper's ferry, opposite Philadelphia, at the 
head of a detachment of Hessians, consisting, besides light 
infantry and chasseurs, of three battalions of grenadiers and 
the regiment of Mesbach, amounting to about twelve hundred 
men, in order to proceed next day to the attack of the fort at 
Red Bank. 

ii It was a part of the plan, that, as soon as the attack 
should be made by colonel count Donop, a heavy cannonade 
on fort Mifflin should commence from the batteries on the 
Pennsylvania shore, and that the Vigilant, a ship of war, 
should pass through a narrow and very confined channel be- 
tween Hog island, next bclow r Mud island, and the Pennsyl- 
vania shore, so as to attack the fort in the rear. Meanwhile, 
to divert the attention of the garrison, and of the marine 
force, from the Vigilant and from other more serious attacks, 
the advanced frigates, together with the Isis and Augusta, 
were to approach fort Mifflin in front, up the main channel, 
as far as the impediments in it would admit, and from thence 
batter the works. 

" The fortifications at Red Bank consisted of extensive 
outer works, within which was an intrench ment eight or nine 
feet high, boarded and fraized, on which colonel Greene after 
taking command of the place, had bestow r ed a good deal of 
labour. Late in the evening of the 22d, count Donop ap- 
peared before the fort, and attacked it with great intrepidity. 
It was defended with equal resolution. The outer works be- 
ing too extensive to be manned by the force under colonel 
Greene, which did not exceed five hundred men, were only 
used to gall the enemy while advancing, and on their near ap- 



ibb GREENE. 

proaclt were abandoned by the garrison, who retired within 
the inner intrenchment, from whence they kept up against 
the Hessians, who pressed on with great gallantry, a most 
heavy and destructive fire. Colonel Donop, while leading on 
his troops, received a mortal wound, and lieutenant colonel 
Mingerode, the second in command, fell about the same time. 
Lieutenant colonel Linsing. now the oldest remaining officer 
of the detachment, drew off his troops ; and, being favoured, 
by the darkness of the night, collected as many of the wound- 
ed as could be brought off. He marched about five miles that 
night, and returned next day to Philadelphia. In this un- 
successful expedition, according to the best information which 
could be collected, the enemy lost about four hundred men. 
The garrison, which w T as reinforced from fort Mifflin, and 
aided by the gallies which flanked the enemy, both advancing 
and retreating, having fought under cover, lost only thirty r 
two men killed and wounded. It would appear from the 
statement given by general Howe of this enterprise, that the 
inner works could not be carried without scaling ladders, and 
that colonel Donop had not been furnished with them. Had 
the requisitions of the commander in chief been complied with, 
and a camp been formed at a convenient distance by the Jer- 
sey militia, so as to have fallen upon the rear of the assail- 
ants, it is probable that the whole corps might have been de- 
stroyed. 

"In order to be in readiness to perform the part assigned to 
the navy, the Augusta, a sixty-four gun ship, with four other 
smaller vessels, passed the lower line of chevaux-de-frize op- 
posite to Billingsport, and lay above them, waiting the as- 
sault to be made on the fort from the land. The flood tide 
setting in about the time the attack commenced, they slipped 
their cables and moved with it up the river. The obstruc- 
tions which had been sunk in the river had in some degree 
changed its channel, so that the Augusta and the Merlin 
grounded a considerable distance below the second line of 
chevaux-de-frize ; and a strong northerly wind, which had 
prevented the Vigilant from coming up to the station assign- 
ed her, still continuing, so checked the rising of the tide, 
that these vessels could not be floated by the subsequent flood. 
Their situation, however, was not discerned that evening, 
The frigates approached the fort as near as possible, against 
which they kept up an incessant fire. The batteries from the 
Pennsylvania shore also were opened on the garrison, but 
night soon put an end to the cannonade. Very early next 
morning, it was recommenced, in the hope that under cover of 
the fire from the vessels and from the batteries,* the Augusta 
and the Merlin might be got off. It was soon discovered that 



GREENE. 189 

they were on ground, and four fire ships were sent against 
them, but without effect. Meanwhile a very warm cannon- 
ade was continued on both sides, in the course of which the 
Augusta took fire, and it was found impracticable to extin- 
guish the flames. In this state of things it became necessary 
to take out the men, and to withdraw the frigates, to prevent 
the injury they might sustain when she should blow up. This 
being in a great measure effected, and the Merlin, which 
could not be removed, being set on fire, the Augusta blew up, 
and in her were lost a few of the crew, among whom were a 
lieutenant Baldock, and the chaplain, and gunner. For their 
continuance in the vessel, no reason has been assigned. 

"The repulse of the detachment commanded by count Do- 
nop, inspired congress with the most flattering hopes respect- 
ing the permanent defence of the post on the Delaware. That 
body expressed its high sense of the merits of colonel Greene, 
who had commanded in fort Mercer, of lieutenant colonel 
Smith, who had commanded in fort Mifflin, and of commodore 
Hazlewood, who commanded the gallies; and to each of these 
officers an elegant sword was presented, as a mark of the esti- 
mation in which his services were held by the public." 

In the year 1786, general Knox, then secretary of war, pre- 
sented Job Greene, Esq. eldest son of colonel Greene, with the 
sw r ord directed to be presented by a resolve of congress, ac- 
companied with a letter, in which he said, " The repulse and 
defeat of the Germans, at the fort of Red Bank, on the Dela- 
ware, is justly considered as one of the most brilliant actions 
of the late war. The glory of that event is inseparably at- 
tached to the memory of your late father and his brave gar- 
rison. The manner in which the supreme authority of the 
United States are pleased to express their high sense of his mi- 
litary merit, and the honourable instrument which they annex 
in testimony thereof, must be peculiarly precious to a son emu- 
lative of his father's virtues." 

The noble manner in which colonel Greene sustained him- 
self against superior force of veteran troops, led by an officer 
of high renown, has been related, as also the well earned re- 
wards which followed his memorable defence. Consummat- 
ing his military fame by his achievements on that proud day, 
he could not be overlooked by his discriminating leader, 
when great occasions called for great exertions. Greene 
was accordingly detached with his regiment with the troops 
placed under major Sullivan, for the purpose of breaking up 
the enemy's post on Rhode Island, soon after the arrival of 
the French fleet under count d'Estaing, in the summer of 1778, 
which well concerted enterprise was marred in the execution 
by some of those incidents which abound in war, and especi- 



190 GREENE. 

ally when the enterprise, complicated and entrusted to allied 
forces, and requiring naval co-operation. Returning to head 
quarters, colonel Greene continued to serve under the com- 
mander in chief, whose confidence and esteem he had truly 
merited, and invariably enjoyed. 

In the spring of 1781, when general Washington began to 
expert the promised naval aid from our best friend, the ill- 
fated Louis the XVI, he occasionally approached the enemy's 
lines on the side of York island. In one of these movements, 
colonel Greene, with a suitable force, was posted on the Cro- 
ton river, in advance of the army. On the other side of this 
river lav a corps of refugees, (American citizens who had join- 
ed the British army) under the command of co'onel Delaneey. 
These half citizens, half soldiers, were notorious for rapine 
and murder and to their vindictive conduct may be justly as- 
cribed most of the cruelties which stained the progress of our 
war, and which at length compelled Washington to order cap- 
tain Asgill, of the British army, to be brought to head quar- 
ters, for the purpose of retaliating, by his execution, the mur- 
der of captain Huddy, of New Jersey, perpetrated by a cap- 
tain Lippincott, of the refugees. The commandant of these 
refugees, (Delaneey was not present) having ascertained the 
position of Greene's corps, which the colonel had cantoned in 
adjacent farm houses, probably with a view to the procure- 
ment of subsistence, took the resolution to strike it. This was 
accordingly done by a nocturnal move on the 13th of May. 
The enemy crossed the Croton before day light the next morn- 
ing, and hastening his advance,, reached our station with the 
dawn of day, unperceived. As he approached the farm house 
in which the lieutenant colonel was quartered, the noise of 
troops marching was heard, which was the first intimation of 
the fatal design. Greene and major Flagg immediately pre- 
pared themselves for defence, but they were too late, so expe- 
ditious was the progress of the enemy. Flagg discharged his 
pistols, and instantly afterwards fell mortally wounded; when 
the ruffians (unworthy the appellation of soldiers) burst open 
the door of Greene's apartment. Here the gallant veteran 
singly received them with his drawn sword. Several fell be- 
neath the arm accustomed to conquer, till at length overpow- 
ered by numbers, and faint from the loss of blood streaming 
from his wounds, barbarity triumphed over valour. ** His 
right arm was almost cut off in two places, the left in one, a 
severe cut on the left shoulder, a sword thrust through the 
abdomen, a bayonet in the right side, and another through the 
abdomen, several sword cuts on the head, and many in differ- 
ent parts of the body." 

Thus cruelly mangled, fell the generous conqueror of count 



GRAEFF— GURNEY. 191 

Donop, whose wounds, as well as those of his unfortunate as- 
sociates, had been tenderly dressed as soon as the battle ter- 
minated, and whose pains and sorrows had been as tenderly 
assuaged. How different was the relentless fury here dis- 
played! 

The commander in chief heard with unutterable anguish 
and deep indignation, the tragical fate of his much loved, 
highly trusted, and faithful friend and soldier, in which feel- 
ing the army sincerely participated. On the subsequent day 
the corpse was brought to head quarters, and his funeral was 
solemnized with military honours, every tongue announcing 
with sadness of sorrow the magnitude of our loss. 

Lieutenant colonel Greene was murdered in the meridian 
of life, being only forty-four years old. He left a widow with 
three sons and four daughters. He was stout and strong in 
"stature, about five feet ten inches high, with a broad round 
chest, his aspect manly, and demeanor pleasing ; enjoying al- 
ways a high state of health, its bloom irradiated a counte- 
nance, which significantly expressed the fortitude and mild- 
ness invariably displayed throughout his life. 

GRAEFF, George, an officer in the revolutionary army, 
in the year 1776, inarched from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to 
aid in establishing the independence of his country, as a lieu- 
tenant; was on the march promoted to a captain, and, as such, 
commanded a company at the battle on Long Island. He died 
at Lancaster, on the 13th of November, 1823, in the sixty 
eighth year of his age. Mr. GraefF sustained through a long 
life, the character of an honest man, and received many proofs 
of the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, by repeated 
appointments to stations of public trust and confidence. 

GURNEY, Francis, was born in Bucks county, in the 
province of Pennsylvania, about the year 1738. He received 
the rudiments of an English education in a country school, 
near the place where he was born. 

Young Gurney was inclined by nature to deeds of enter- 
prise, hardihood and valour. He manifested from his early 
years a strong predilection for the use and profession of arms. 
Nor had he more than entered on the threshold of life, when 
he was presented with an opportunity of gratifying to the ut- 
most his favourite propensity. When he arrived at his 
eighteenth year, he found the embittered war of 1756, inun- 
dating in blood the northern section of the British provinces. 
He accordingly, with a promptness and ardour peculiar to 
his temperament, volunteered his services in the provincial 
army to aid in protecting his countrymen from the French 
bayonet and the Indian tomahawk. His place of destination 
was the frontiers of Canada, a region famous in history for 



192 GURNEY. 

its sanguinary wars, and the hardships to which troops arc 
exposed when on service. It was here his fortune to partici- 
pate in many of the dangers and exploits of the celebrated 
Putnam, and other oihYcrs of daring intrepidity. Being 
young, active, and emulous of distinction, he was engaged of 
choice in almost every spirited and gallant enterprise that 
was, from time to time, undertaken against the enemy. IS or 
did he ever fail to act the part of a brave, determined and 
high-minded soldier. Although he could not at all times com- 
mand success, his prowess and conduct uniformly deserved it. 
Among other important services in which he was engaged, he 
bore his part in the capture of Cape Breton. 

But it was not alone in the regions of the north, suffering 
from cold, and menaced by the hatchet and scalping knife of 
the savage, that this brave young Pennsylvanian served his 
country in the character of a soluier. Determined to pursue" 
glory wherever she might lead the way, and, if possible, to 
weave for himself a chaplet from the laurels of different cli- 
mates, he embarked on board the British fleet destined to act 
against the French West-India islands. Here, neither the 
burning sun. nor the sultry and relaxing air of the tropics, 
was sufficient to subdue his spirit or unnerve his arm. The 
same energy and enterprise which he had previously displayed 
at the taking of Cape Breton, and elsewhere on the continent, 
he manifested again at the capture of Guadaloupe. 

The war being closed, his inclination led him to return to 
the enjoyment of peaceful and domestic scenes ; for he felt 
now no disposition to follow arms as a profession for life. He 
accordingly settled in Philadelphia in the capacity of a mer- 
chant, where he pursued his business with industry and cor- 
rectness, reputation and success, till the commencement of 
our revolutionary war. 

Ranking with the foremost in his attachment to liberty, and 
his abhorrence of every thing that might tend to destroy it. he 
viewed with indignation the unhallowed attempts of the Bri- 
tish ministry to trample on the rights of the infant colonics. 
He was not of that saturnine disposition which waits till it 
feels the lash of oppression. He was one of those discern- 
ing, keen-sighted patriots, who, in the language of an eloquent 
statesman, "augur misgovcrnment at a distance: and snuff the 
approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze." No less prompt 
to act than vigilant to discover, he was among the first to raise 
his voice and extend his arm in behalf of the invaded liberties 
of his country. 

In the year 1774 and 1775, when opposition to the measures 
of the British government began to be seriously meditated and 
organized, his public services in Philadelphia were above all 



GURNET. 193 

price* His ardent and active disposition first contributed to 
rouse to resistance many of his less sensitive and energetic 
compatriots; and, having no inconsiderable knowledge of tac- 
tics and arms, he was highly instrumental in the formation 
and diciplining military corps. In these he refused at first 
to accept of a commission, believing that he could render to 
his country higher services, by continuing to act as a general 
and voluntary instructor of the duties of the soldier. His 
primary wish was ; and in this he manifested that soundness 
of judgment for which he was remarkable ; to see men of rank 
and fortune heartily and practically engaged in the cause. 
He was anxious to see them take that lead which their stand- 
ing in society, no less than their heavy stake in the approach- 
ing contest, so fairly entitled them, and which he considered 
essential to the success of our measures. To this end, he la- 
bored assiduously and with the happiest effect. Several gen- 
tlemen, who afterwards acquired a name in arms, among 
whom may be mentioned, Mifflin, Cadwalader, Meredith and 
others, were in no small degree indebted to him for their first 
appointment to military rank. When they became known, 
they were afterwards, on that ground, appointed to higher and 
more conspicuous stations. 

At length, on the 25th of May, 1775, Mr. Gurney was pre- 
vailed on to accept the commission of captain of infantry, in 
a regiment of troops raised by authority of the province of 
Pennsylvania. In the course of the following year he agreed 
to enter into the regular service, and was appointed lieuten- 
ant-colonel in the eleventh regiment of the Pennsylvania line. 
While in this command he was present at the battles of Iron- 
hill, Brandy wine, and Germantown; in each of which he be- 
haved with his accustomed bravery, but had no opportunity of 
acquiring distinction. In the first of them he was slightly 
wounded in the foot. 

Soon after this period, some irregularity having occurred 
on the score of promotion, to which he thought it dishonorable 
to submit, colonel Gurney resigned his commission in the ar- 
my, and returned once more to private life. Still, however, 
was his country benefitted by his judgment and active servi- 
ces, he being immediately placed on the committee of safety 
for the city of Philadelphia, and also on that for the defence 
of the Delaware river and bay. The vigilance and compe- 
tency which he manifested under these appointments were im- 
portant in their effects, and placed him high in the confidence 
of his fellow citizens. 

On the conclusion of the peace of 1783, he resumed his mer- 
cantile pursuits in that city, and continued in them with great 
industry and merited success, till within a year or two of his 

25 



194 GURNEY. 

death; when, owing to his advanced age and the embarrass- 
ments of the times, he determined to abandon them. But dur- 
ing this important period of his life, his attention was far from 
being devoted exclusively to his private concerns. Few inha- 
bitants of Pennsylvania took a more active part in the man- 
agement of the affairs of the city and the commonwealth. For 
nearly thirty years he was constantly employed in the dis- 
charge of some public function, civil or military; nor was he 
ever found otherwise than industrious, competent, and faith- 
ful to his trust. He held, for several years, the appointment 
of warden of the port of Philadelphia, during which time he 
suggested and had carried into effect an important improve- 
ment in the buoys and beacons in the Delaware bay. That es- 
tablishment is much indebted to him for its present state of 
convenience and excellence. We state on authority which 
we believe to be correct, that he was the inventor of some- 
thing useful in the construction of the buoys and beacons now r 
in use, but more particularly of a new and highly improved 
mode of securing them. 

He was for a while one of the aldermen of the city, and 
served a long tour in the city councils, chiefly as president of 
the select council. He was for several years in succession 
elected a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania, first to 
the house of representatives, and afterwards to the senate. In 
both bodies he became a leading character. For although a 
man of great humility of pretensions, he acquired, by prac- 
tice, a habit of speaking in public with facility and effect. 

He was also, a considerable time ago, created a trustee of 
Dickinson college, an appointment which he held at the time 
of his death. In all these situations he sustained the reputa- 
tion of a man of integrity, firmness, and sound intelligence. 

Such are, in part, the offices and employments of a civil na- 
ture; in which it was the good fortune of Mr. Gurney to ren- 
der services to his fellow citizens, and to acquire their 
esteem. On that of county-commissioner, church-warden, and 
trustee or director of various institutions, in which he pro- 
moted the interest of individuals or of the city, we forbear to 
dwell. He was also among the most active, skilful, and inde- 
fatigable of the militia officers of the state. Tie wore a colo- 
nel's commission from the first of May, 1786, to the month of 
March, 1799, when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier- 
general. 

The only active military service in which Mr. Gurney was 
engaged subsequently to the close of the revolutionary war, 
occurred in the year 1 794, when a considerable force was calle d 
into the field, to suppress an insurrection in the western 
part of the state of Pennsylvania. The troops assembled on 



GURNEY. 195 

that occasion from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and 
Virginia, amounted to about fifteen thousand rank and file. 
Mr. Gurney, in the capacity of colonel, commanded the first 
regiment of the Philadelphia brigade, which, owing to his 
skill and attention, was. with the exception of M'Pherson's 
Blues, a body composed of young gentlemen of family and 
education, who would have done honour to any service, the 
best disciplined and most effective corps in the field. 

Colonel Gurney's command amounted on this occasion, to 
about six hundred men, raw in service: their fatigues and ex- 
posures were great, and the weather was oftentimes tempestu- 
ous and inclement: notwithstanding this, he lost from sick- 
ness, we believe, but two men during a campaign of three 
months continuance. This fact must be regarded as a high 
eulogium on his attention to the accommodation and health of 
his troops. 

Feeling somewhat, although but slightly for his age, the pres- 
sure of years, lie had for some time before his death, declined 
all participation in public employments. The evening of his 
life was retired and tranquil, rational and dignified; such as 
need not have caused a blush on the cheek of the best-born 
citizen of Rome. It was passed in social intercourse, amuse- 
ment from books, and the cultivation of a favourite country- 
seat in the vicinity of Philadelphia. 

He died on the 25th of May, 1815, after a severe and pain- 
ful indisposition of one month, which, particularly towards 
the close, he bore with fortitude and perfect resignation. — 
There exists the fairest ground of belief, that his last mo- 
ments were those of the christian in communion with his 
God. 

General Gurney was, in his personal appearance, particu- 
larly striking. No one could pass him in the street as a com- 
mon man. He was nearly six feet high, portly and well 
formed, and considering his age, unusually erect. Although 
considerably turned of threescore and ten, he had, both men- 
tally and corporeally, much of the vigour and elasticity of 
the meridian of life. The frost of years was white on his 
temples, but its rigours had not penetrated to his mind or his 
heart. His affections were still warm, his memory retentive, 
his powers of intellect active and pliable, and his spirits 
had much of the buoyancy of youth. He had a complexiou 
unusually florid, an aquiline nose, blue eyes capable of strong 
expression, and a forehead lofty but somewhat retreating. Al- 
though he could not be said to have the physiognomy of ge- 
nius, he had that of great sensibility, connected with judg- 
ment and decision, intrepidity and firmness: and these were 
prominent traits in his character. 



19b G WINN— HALE. 

GWINN, William, was a native of Ireland, and became 
a resident of the then province of Pennsylvania, in the year 
1772. In the year 1776, he joined the revolutionary army, 
in which he was appointed to an office in the staif department, 
under the command of general Mifflin, with the rank of major. 
At the close of the war, he removed into Maryland ; and, for 
the last thirty-five years, resided on his farm. Possessing a 
strong understanding, correct principles, and a pure and he- 
nevolent heart, the deceased was, through life, an agreeable 
acquaintance, a faithful friend, and an affectionate husband. 
He died at Monkton Mills, Baltimore county, on the 1st of 
October, 1819, in the 70th year of his age. 

HALE, Nathan, a celebrated youthful hero, and martyr 
of the revolutionary war, was a native of Coventry, in the 
state of Connecticut. He received his education at Yale col- 
lege, where he graduated in 1773. The ardent glow of pa- 
triotic feeling, and the deep interest which he took in the 
cause of his injured country, induced him. at an early period 
of the revolutionary war, to offer to it his services; and hav- 
ing obtained a commission, he entered the army in the capa- 
city of captain in colonel Knowlton's regiment of light in- 
fantry. 

The following narrative exhibits a case analogous to that of 
major Andre, and surely while Americans regret the fate of 
an enemy, the heroic sufferings of their own countrymen should 
not be forgotten or unlamented. 

After the defeat the American arms sustained from the 
British on Long Island, August 27, 1776, general Washing- 
ton called a council of war. who determined on an imme- 
diate retreat to New- York. The intention was prudently con- 
cealed from the army, who knew not whither they were going, 
but imagined it was to attack the enemy. The field artillery, 
tents, baggage, and about nine thousand men were conveyed 
to the city of New- York, over East river, more than a mile 
wide, in less than thirteen hours, and without the know ledge 
of the British, though not six hundred yards distance. Pro- 
vidence in a remarkable manner favoured the retreating army. 
The wind, which seemed to prevent the troops getting over at 
the appointed hour, afterwards shifted to their wishes; to- 
wards morning an extreme thick fog came on, which hovered 
over Long Island, and, by concealing the Americans, enabled 
them to complete their retreat without interruption, though 
the day had begun to dawn some time before it was finished. 
In about half an hour after the island was finally abandoned, 
the fog cleared off, and the British were seen taking possession 
of the American lines. 

Perhaps the fate of America was never suspended on a more, 



HALE. 297 

brittle thread, than previously to this memorable retreat. A 
spectacle is here presented of an army, destined for the de- 
fence of a great continent, driven to the narrow borders of an 
island, with a victorious army of double its number in front, 
with navigable waters in its rear; constantly liable to have 
its communication cut off by the enemy's navy, and every mo- 
ment exposed to an attack. The presence of mind which ani- 
mated the commander in chief in this critical situation, the 
prudence with which all the necessary measures were execut- 
ed, redounded as much, or more, to his honour than the most 
brilliant victories. An army, to which America looked for 
safety, preserved ; a general, who was considered as an host 
himself, saved for the future necessity of his country ! Had 
not, however, the circumstances of the night, of the wind and 
weather, been favourable, the plan, however well concerted, 
must have been defeated. To a good Providence, therefore, 
are the people of America indebted, for the complete success 
of an enterprise so important in its consequences. 

This retreat left the British in complete possession of Long 
Island. What could be their future operations remained un- 
certain. To obtain information of their strength, situation, 
and future movements, was of high importance. For this 
purpose, general Washington applied to colonel Knowlton, 
who commanded a regiment of light infantry, which formed 
the van of the American army, and desired him to adopt some 
mode of gaining the necessary information. Colonel Knowl- 
ton communicated this request to captain Nathan Hale, of 
Connecticut, who was then a captain in his regiment. 

This young officer, animated by a sense of duty, and con- 
sidering that an opportunity presented itself by which. he 
might be useful to his country, at once offered himself a vol- 
unteer for this hazardous service. He passed in disguise to 
Long Island, examined every part of the British army, and 
obtained the best possible information respecting their situa- 
tion and future operations. 

In his attempt to return he was apprehended, carried be- 
fore sir William Howe, and the proof of his object was so 
clear, that he frankly acknowledged who he was, and what 
were his views. • 

Sir William Howe at once gave an order to the provost 
mashal to execute him the next morning. 

This order was accordingly executed in a most unfeeling 
manner, and by as great a savage as ever disgraced humanity. 
A clergyman, whose attendance he desired was refused him ; 
a bible for a few moments devotion was not procured, although 
he requested it. Letters, which, on the morning of his execu- 
tion, he wrote to his mother and other friends, were destroy- 



198 HALE. 

ed ; and this very extraordinary reason given by the pro 
\ost marshal, "that the rebels should not know they had a man 
in their army who could die with so much firmness." 

Unknown to all around him, without a single friend to offer 
him the least consolation, thus fell as amiable and as worthy a 
young man as America could boast, with this, as his dying 
observation : that "he only lamented that he had but one life 
to lose for his country." 

Although the manner of this execution will ever be abhor- 
red by every friend to humanity and religion, yet there can- 
not be a question but that the sentence was conformable to the 
rules of war and the practice of nations in similar cases. 

It is, however, a justice due to the character of captain Hale 
to observe, that his motives for engaging in this service were 
entirely different from those which generally influence others 
in similar circumstances. 

Neither expectation of promotion, nor pecuniary reward, 
induced him to this attempt. A sense of duty, a hope that he 
might in this way be useful to his country, and an opinion 
which he had adopted, that every kind of service necessary to 
the public good became honourable by being necessary ; were 
the great motives which induced him to engage in an enter- 
prise by which his connexions lost a most amiable friend, 
and his country one of its most promising supporters. 

The fate of this unfortunate young man excites the most in- 
teresting reflections. 

To see such a character, in the flower of youth, cheerfully 
treading in the most hazardous paths, influenced by the pur- 
est intentions, and only emulous to do good to his country, 
without the imputation of a crime, fall a victim to policy, must 
have been wounding to the feelings even of his enemies. 

Captain Hale possessed a fine genius, had received an ex- 
cellent education, and disclosed high promise of future talents 
and usefulness. He was open, generous and brave, and en- 
thusiastic in the cause of liberty and his country, in which he 
had engaged, and for which he was destined to die an early 
martyr. The fate of Hale, it will be observed, was in almost 
every respect, strikingly similar to that of major Andre. As 
it respects character, qualifications and personal interest, 
Hale would not suffer from a comparison with Andre. Yet, 
strange as it may seem, the fate of Andre, even in America, 
has been universally lamented, and his memory universally 
respected ; whilst it is scarcely known that there was ever 
such a man as Nathan Hale. Andre has had a monument 
erected to his memory by his country, and the most distin- 
guished honours and rewards conferred upon his family; but 
what has our country done for the memory of Hale? No stone, 



HAMILTON. 199 

however humble, has been erected to it ; no memorial has res- 
cued it from oblivion; and no inscription has preserved his 
ashes from insult. Such is the influence of books, and the evil 
tendency of importing them, that while Nathan Hale, an 
American, an ardent revolutionary patriot, and who offered, 
his life as a sacrifice to our liberties, is wholly unknown, the 
life, character, and fate of Andre, are familiar with almost 
every individual, however humble his situation, or limited his 
intelligence. 

Thus, -while fond virtue wish'd in vain to save, 

Hale, bright and generous, found a hapless grave* 

With genius' living flame his bosom glow'd, 

Jind science charm* d him to her sweet abode. 

In worth's fair path his feet had ventur'd far, 

Tlie pride of peace, the rising grace of war. 

In duty firm, in danger calm as ev'n. 

To friends unchanging, and sincere to heav'n. 

How short his course, the prize, how early icon, 

While weeping friendship mourns her fav'rite gone. 

HAMILTON, Alexander, first secretary of the treasury 
of the United States, was a native of the island of St. Croix, 
and was born in 1757. His father was the younger son of an 
English family, and his mother was an American. At the 
age of sixteen, he accompanied his mother to New York, and 
entered a student of Columbia college, in which he continued 
about three years. While a member of this institution, the 
first buddings of his intellect gave presages of his future emi- 
nence. The contest with Great Britain called forth the first 
talents on each side, and his juvenile pen asserted the claims 
of the colonies against very respectable writers. His papers 
exhibited such evidence of intellect and wisdom, that they 
were ascribed to Mr. Jay, and when the truth was discover- 
ed, America saw with astonishment, a lad of seventeen in the 
list of her able advocates. 

The quarrel having ripened into open conflict, the first 
sound of battle awakened the martial spirit of the stripling. 
He could no longer repose in college shades, while his coun- 
try was in danger, and her defenders in the field. He accord- 
ingly, when in his nineteenth year, entered the army with the 
rank of captain of artillery, and, in that capacity, distin- 
guished himself on several occasions. 

Having by his amiable temper and officer-like conduct, con- 
ciliated the regard and affection of his comrades, it was not 
long till, by his higher qualities, he attracted the notice of the 
commander in chief. A strong and peculiar trait in the cha- 
racter of Washington was his intuitive discernment of talent 



ioo Hamilton. 

and worth. Never was this faculty exercised by him more 
happily or with better effect, than in his selection of captain 
Hamilton to serve as his aid-de-camp, whicb promoted him to 
the rank Of lieutenant colonel. This event took place in the 
year 1777. From that period till near the time of the cap- 
ture of lord Cornwallis, in 1781, Washington and Hamilton 
were inseparable companions, both in the cabinet and the field. 
IS ever was an aid more perfectly the friend and confidant of 
his commander, nor a general more ably subserved by an aid. 
They shared together the dangers and hardships of that try- 
ing period, with a firmness and fortitude that were never sur- 
passed, and, by their bravery and united wisdom, were in- 
strumental, beyond all others, in conducting the arms of their 
country to victory and glory. Hamilton served as first aid- 
de-camp to the commander in chief in the battles of Brandy- 
wine, Germantown and Monmouth. 

His sound understanding, comprehensive views, application 
and promptitude, soon gained the entire confidence of his pat- 
ron. In such a school it was impossible but that his genius 
should be nourished. By intercourse with Washington, by 
surveying his plans, observing his consummate prudence, and 
by a minute inspection of the springs of national operations, 
he became fitted for command. Throughout the campaign, 
which terminated in the capture of Cornwallis, colonel Ham- 
ilton commanded a battalion of light infantry. At the siege 
of York in 1781, when the second parallel was opened, two 
redoubts, which flanked it, and were advanced 300 yards in 
front of the British works, very much annojed the men in the 
trenches. It was resolved to possess them, and to prevent 
jealousies the attack of the one was committed to the Ameri- 
cans, and of the other to the French. The detachment of the 
Americans, was commanded by the marquis de la Fayette; 
and colonel Hamilton, at his own earnest request, led the ad- 
vanced corps, consisting of two battalions. Towards the 
close of the day, on the 14th of October, the troops rushed to 
the charge without firing a single gun. The works were as- 
saulted with irresistable impetuosity, and carried with but 
little loss. Eight of the enemy fell in the action ; but not- 
withstanding the irritation lately produced by the infamous 
slaughter in fort Griswold, not a man was killed who ceased 
to resist. 

At the conclusion of the war, colonel Hamilton, being now 
married, and having a family depending for its subsistence on 
his personal exertions, entered, after a brief course of stndy, 
on the profession of the law. Still, however, notwithstanding 
the calls of his interest to the contrary, he was unable to de- 
tach himself from public affairs. 



HAMILTON, 201 

In 1782, he was elected a member of congress from the state 
of New York. At the succeeding session the proceedings of 
that body assumed a character novel, striking, and unprece- 
dented in vigour. Hamilton took an early and distinguished 
lead in all the most important measures of the session. He 
was uniformly a member, and several times chairman of those 
committees, to which was confided the high and difficult trust 
of reporting on such subjects as were deemed most vitally in- 
teresting to the nation. The reports prepared on these occa- 
sions, are remarkable for that eloquence, energy, and lumi- 
nous wisdom which characterise so strongly all the subse- 
quent productions of his pen. He was also mover of several 
of the most important resolutions to which the session gave 
rise. 

Having ably acquitted himself of his duty to his country, 
colonel Hamilton returned to the practice of the law. Nor 
was it long till he was foremost in professional eminence.— - 
But he felt that matters of a public nature had still a claim 
on him which he ought not to resist. 

The violence which was meditated against the property 
and persons of all who remained in the city during the war, 
called forth his generous exertions, and, by the aid of gover- 
nor Clinton, the faithless and revengeful scheme was defeated. 
In a few years a more important affair demanded his talents. 
After witnessing the debility of the confederation, he was 
fully impressed with the necessity of an efficient general go- 
vernment, and he was appointed in 1787, a member of the fe- 
deral convention of New York. He assisted in forming the 
constitution of our country. It did not indeed completely 
meet his wishes. He was afraid that it did not contain suffi- 
cient means of strength for its own preservation, and that, in 
consequence, we should share the fate of many other repub- 
lics, and pass through anarchy to despotism. He was in fa- 
vour of a more permanent executive and senate. He wished 
for a strong government, which would not be shaken by the 
conflict of different interests through an extensive territory, . 
and which should be adequate to all the forms of national exi- 
gency. 

By his pen, in the papers signed Publius, and by his voice 
in the convention of New r York, he contributed much to its 
adoption. When the government was organized in 1789, 
Washington placed him at the head of the treasury. In the 
new demands, which were now made upon his talents, the re- 
sources of his mind did not fail him. In his reports, he pro- 
posed plans for funding the debt of the union, and for assuming 
the debts of the respective states; for establishing a bank and 
mint; and for procuring a revenue. He wished to redeem 

26 



202 HAMILTON. 

the reputation of his country by satisfying her creditors; and 
to combine with the government such a monied interest, as 
might facilitate its operations. . 

He remained but a short time afterwards in office. As his 
property had been wasted in the public service, the care of a 
rising family made it his duty to retire, that by renewed ex- 
ertions in his profession, he might provide for their support. 
He accordingly resigned his office on the last of January, 
1795. 

When the provisional army was raised in 1798, Washing- 
ton qualified his a( ceptance of the command of it, with the 
condition that Hamilton should be his associate and the second 
in command. This arrangement was accordingly made. 

Invested with the rank of inspector general, Hamilton re- 
paired immediately to his post, and commenced the organiza- 
tion and discipline of his army. These he carried in a short 
time to high perfection, the materials of his command being 
excellent in quality. His hours of leisure he devoted, with 
his usual industry, to the study of chemistry, mathematics, 
and the art of war. In the two latter his attainments became 
great. To render him conspicuous among the ablest captains 
of the world, nothing was now wanting but experience in the 
field. 

After the adjustment of our dispute with the French Repub- 
lic, and the discharge of the army, he returned again to his 
profession in the city of New York. 

In June, 1804, colonel Burr, vice-president of the United 
States, addressed a letter to general Hamilton, requiring his 
acknowledgment or denial of the use of any expression dero- 
gatory to the honour of the former. This demand was deem- 
ed inadmissible, and a duel was the consequence. After the 
close of the circuit court, the parties met at Hoboken, on the 
morning of Wednesday, July the 11th, and Hamilton fell on 
the same spot, where his son a few years before had fallen, in 
obedience to the same principle of honour, and in the same 
violation of the laws of God, and of man. He was carried 
into the city, and being desirous of receiving the sacrament 
of the Lord's supper, he immediately sent for the reverend 
Dr. Mason. As the principles of his church prohibited him 
from administering the ordinance in private, this minister of 
the gospel informed general Hamilton, that the sacrament was 
an exhibition and pledge of the mercies, which the Son of 
God has purchased, and that the absence of the sign did not 
exclude from the mercies signified, which were accessible to 
him by faith in their gracious Author. He replied, "I am 
aware of that. It is only a sign that I wanted it." In the 
conversation which ensued, he disavowed all intention of fcak- 



HAMILTON. 203 

ing the life of colonel Burr, and declared his abhorrence of 
the whole transaction. When the sin, of which he had been 
guilty, was intimated to him, he assented with strong emotion; 
and when the infinite merit of the Redeemer, as the propitia- 
tion for sin, the sole ground of our acceptance with God, was 
suggested, he said with emphasis, " I have a tender reliance 
on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lortl 
Jesus Christ." The reverend bishop Moore was afterwards 
sent for, ami after making suitable inquiries of the penitence 
and faith of general Hamilton, and receiving his assurance 
that he would never again, if restored to health, be engaged in 
a similar transaction, hut would employ all his influence in 
society to discountenance the barbarous custom, administered 
to him the communion. After this, his mind w r as composed. 
He expired about two o'clock on Thursday, July 12, 1804, 
aged about forty-seven years. 

Throughout the United States his premature fall excited 
emotions of sorrow that were inferior only to those that had 
resulted from the death of Washington. For a time, politi- 
cal distinctions were swallowed up in his loss; and, with a 
magnanimity in a high degree honourable to them, those who 
had been hitherto opposed to him in public measures, united 
with his friends in doing homage to his memory, and lament- 
ing his death as a national calamity. 

Such honours Ilium to her Hero paid, 

Jlnd peaceful slept the mighty Hector* s shade. 

General Hamilton possessed very uncommon powers of 
mind. To whatever subject he directed his attention, he was 
able to grasp it; and in whatever he engaged, in that he ex- 
celled. So stupendous were his talents, and so patient was 
his industry, that no investigation presented difficulties which 
he could not conquer. In the class of men of intellect, he held 
the first rank. His eloquence was of the most interesting 
kind, and when new exertions were required, he rose in new 
strength, and touching at his pleasure every string of pity or 
of terror, of indignation or grief, he bent the passions of 
others to his purpose. At the bar he gained the first emi- 
nence. 

Although in person below the middle stature, and some- 
what deficient in elegance of figure, general Hamilton pos- 
sessed a very striking and manly appearance. By the most 
superficial observer he could never be regarded as a common 
individual. His head, which was large, was formed on the 
finest model, resembling somewhat the Grecian antique. His 
forehead was spacious and elevated, his nose projecting, but 
inclining to the aquiline, his eyes grey, keen at ail times, and* 



204 HAMILTON. 

when animated by debate, intolerably piercing, and his mouth 
and chin well proportioned and handsome. These two latter, al- 
though not his strongest, were his most pleasing features: yet 
the form of his mouth was expressive of eloquence; more es- 
pecially of persuasion. He was remarkable for a deep de- 
pression between his nose and forehead, and a contraction of 
his brows, which gave to the upper part of his countenance an 
air of sternness. The lower part was the emblem of mildness 
and benignity. 

In his dress he was plain, in his disposition social, in his 
manners easy and affable, in his affections warm, in his friend- 
ships steady, in his feelings ardent, and in his general de- 
portment a well bred gentleman. 

The versatility of his powers was as wonderful as their 
strength. To the transactions of all matters that were ever 
submitted to him, he showed himself competent ; on every 
point of difficulty and moment, he was qualified to become 
great. What others learnt by experience, he saw by intui- 
tion ; what they achieved by persevering labour, he could ac- 
complish by a single exertion. Hence the diversified emi- 
nence of his attainments, and the surprising rapidity with 
which he rendered himself master, not only of new and intri- 
cate points, but even of entire branches of science. 

Within the sphere of our own knowledge, or in the records 
of society, it is usual to find individuals who are highly dis- 
tinguished in particular walks : in the forum, the senate, the 
cabinet, or the field ; but a single character pre-eminent in 
them all, constitutes a prodigy of human greatness. Yet such 
a character was the personage we are considering. He com 
bined within himself qualities that would have communicated 
lustre to many. At the bar, his ability and eloquence were 
at once the delight and astonishment of his country ; as a 
statesman, his powers were transcendant and his resources in- 
exhaustible ; as a financier, he was acknowledged to be with- 
out a rival ; in his talents for war, he was believed to be infe- 
rior to Washington alone. To these we may add, that in his 
qualifications as a writer he w r as eminently great. Endow- 
ments so brilliant, with attainments so wide, multifarious and 
lofty, have but rarely fallen to the portion of a mortal. 

Yet with these he had none of the eccentricities, irregulari- 
ties, or vices, that oftentimes follow in the train of greatness. 
His mind aijd his habits were in a high degree orderly, tempe- 
rate and methodical. To his powers alone, stupendous as they 
were, he never committed the performance of his duty, on any 
occasion of interest and importance. Preparatory to acting, 
he bestowed on his subject all the attention that would have 
been requisite in a man of common abilities. He studied it 



HANCOCK. 205 

patiently till he thoroughly comprehended it. Hence, even 
in the minutest details, he was never found deficient when he 
was expected to be prepared. To his moral habits, there- 
fore, no less than to his physical powers, he owed it, in part, 
that he was consummately great. 

With all his pre-eminence of talents, and amiable as he was 
in private life, general Hamilton is yet a melancholy proof of 
the influence, which intercourse with a depraved world has in 
perverting the judgment. In principle he was opposed to 
duelling, his conscience was not hardened, and he was not in- 
different to the happiness of his wife and children; but no con- 
sideration was strong enough to prevent him from exposing 
his life in single combat. His own views of usefulness were, 
followed in contrariety to the inductions of his Maker and 
Judge. He had been for some time convinced of the truth of 
Christianity, and it was his intention, if his life had been 
spared, to have written a work upon its evidences. 

General Hamilton possessed many friends, and he was en- 
deared to them, for he was gentle, tender and benevolent. — 
While he was great in the eyes of the world, familiarity with 
him only increased the regard in which he was held. He. 
married a daughter of general Schuyler, and left an afflicted 
widow and a number of children to mourn his loss. 

" Such was Hamilton ; the soldier of the revolution : the 
confidant of Washington: the founder of the American system 
of finance ; the enlightened statesman ; the great counsellor ; 
the eloquent orator; and the man of probity, tried and spotless. 
He retired poor from an office, which, without peculation or 
any act that would have amounted to a breach of public trust, 
might have rendered him as distinguished for wealth, as he 
was for the higher riches of his mind. His faults; for being 
human he had faults; are lost amidst his virtues, excused or 
forgotten. " 

HANCOCK, Joust, a distinguished patriot and friend of 
his country, was born in the year 1737, in the province of 
Massachusetts. The habitation of his father, which is repre- 
sented as the precise place of his nativity, was situated near 
the village of Quincey, and by the ordinary transitions of pro- 
perty in America, is now annexed to the patrimony of John 
Adams, former president of the United States. In this neigh- 
borhood w r ere born and died, for many generations, the ances- 
tors of the illustrious Samuel Adams. Mr. Hancock gradua- 
ted at Harvard college, in 1754. On the death of his uncle, 
Thomas Hancock, Esquire, he received a very considerable 
fortune, and soon became an eminent merchant. He was, for 
several years, selectman of the town: and in 1766, he was 
chosen a member of the house of representatives for Boston. 



206 HANCOCK. 

He there blazed a whig of the first magnitude. Otis, Gush- 
ing, and Samuel Adams, were the other three, who represent- 
ed the capital, men of name in the revolution of their country. 
Being fond of public notice, he was flattered by the approba- 
tion of the people, with their marks of confidence, and the dis- 
tinction he had in the general court. The political sagacity 
of Adams, the public spirit and patriotic zeal of Hancock, 
gave a lustre to the Boston seat. Of these two popular lead- 
ers, the manners and appearance were in direct opposition, 
notwithstanding the conformity of their political principles, 
and their equal devotion to lyhe liberties and independence of 
their country ; and this dissimilarity tended, no doubt, to ag- 
gravate the passions and animosities of their adherents. Mr. 
Adams was poor, and in his dress and manners, simple and 
unadorned. Hancock, on the other hand, was numbered with 
the richest individuals of his country. His equipage was 
splendid and magnificent; and such as at present is unknown 
in America. His apparel was sumptuously embroidered with 
gold and silver lace, and all the other decorations fash- 
ionable amongst men of fortune of that day; he rode, especi- 
ally upon public occasions, with six beautiful bays, and with 
servants in livery. He was graceful and prepossessing i» 
manners, and \cry passionately addicted to what are called 
the elegant pleasures of life; to dancing, music, concerts, 
routs, assemblies, card parties, rich wines, social dinners and 
festivities; all which the stern republican virtues of Mr, 
Adams regarded with indifference, if not with contempt. 

On the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, a small party of 
the British soldiers paraded, and being assailed by a tumul- 
tory assemblage of the people, with balls of snow and other 
weapons, fired upon them by the order of the officer, to dis- 
perse them. Upon which occasion, several of the crowd were 
wounded, and a few T were killed. This affray is usually term- 
ed " the massacre of Boston." 

It was in commemoration of this event, Mr. Hancock de- 
livered an oration, in 1774, from which we extract the fol- 
lowing: 

"I have always, from my earliest youth, rejoiced in the fe- 
licity of my fellow-men, and have ever considered it as the 
indispensable duty of every member of society to promote, as 
far as in him lies, the prosperity of every individual, but 
more especially of the community to which he belongs ; and 
also, as a faithful subject of the state, to use his utmost en- 
deavours to detect, and having detected, strenuously to oppose 
every traitorous plot which its enemies may devise for its de- 
struction. Security to the persons and properties of the go- 
verned, is so obviously the design and end of civil govern- 



HANCOCK. 207 

Jient, that to attempt a logical proof of it, would be like burn- 
ing tapers at noon day, to assist the sun in enlightening the 
world; and it cannot be virtuous or honourable, to attempt to 
support a government, of which this is not the great and prin- 
cipal basis; and it is to the last degree vicious and infamous 
to attempt to support a government, which manifestly tends to 
render the persons and properties of the governed insecure. 
Some boast of being friends to government ; I am a friend to 
righteous government, to a government founded upon the prin- 
ciples of reason and justice; but I glory in publicly avowing 
my eternal enmity to tyranny. Is the present system, which 
the British administration have adopted for the government 
of the colonies, a righteous government? or is it tyranny?— 
Here suffer me to ask (and would to Heaven there could be an 
answer) what tenderness, what regard, respect or considera- 
tion, has great Britain shewn, in their late transactions, for 
the security of the persons or properties of the inhabitants of 
the colonies? or rather, what have they omitted doing to de- 
stroy that security? They have declared that they have ever 
had, and of right ought ever to have, full power to make laws 
of sufficient validity, to bind the colonies in all cases what- 
ever: they have exercised this pretended right by imposing a 
tax upon us without our consent; and lest we should shew 
some reluctance at parting with our property, her fleets and 
armies are sent to enforce their mad pretensions. The town 
of Boston, ever faithful to the British crown, has been invested 
by a British fleet: the troops of George the III. have crossed 
the wide Atlantic, not to engage an enemy, but to assist a 
band of traitors in trampling on the rights and liberties of 
his most loyal subjects in America; those rights and liberties 
which, as a father, he ought ever to regard, and as a king, he. 
is bound, in honour, to defend from violations, even at 1 
of his own life. 

"But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transact 
that dismal night, when in such quick succession we 1 
extremes of grief, astonishment and rage; when Heaven, iifc 
anger, for a dreadful moment, suffered hell to take the 
when satan, with his chosen band, opened the sluices o 
England's blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land wit 
dead bodies of her guiltless sons. Let this sad tale of 
never be told without a tear : let not the heaving bosom 
to burn with manly indignation at the barbarous story, through 
the long tracts of future time : let every parent tell the sh 
ful story to his listening children, till tears of pity glist 
their eyes, and boiling passions shake their tender fran 
and whilst the anniversary of that ill-fated night is kept 
bike in the grim court of pandemonium, let all America 



208 HANCOCK. 

in one common prayer to Heaven, that the inhuman, ufipro* 
voiced murders of the fifth of March, 1770, planned by Hills- 
borough, and a knot of treacherous knaves in Boston, and ex- 
ecuted by the cruel hand of Preston and his sanguinary coad- 
jutors, may ever stand on history without a parallel. But 
what, my countrymen, withheld the ready arm of vengeance 
from executing instant justice on the vile assassins ? Perhaps 
you feared promiscuous carnage might ensue, and that the in- 
nocent might share the fate of those who had performed the 
infernal deed. But were not all guilty ? Were you not too 
tender of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your 
necks ? But I must not too severely blame a fault, which great 
souls only can commit. May the magnificence of spirit which 
scorns the low pursuits of malice, may that generous compas- 
sion which often preserves from ruin, even a guilty villain, 
forever actuate the noble bosoms of Americans ! But let not 
the miscreant host vainly imagine that we feared their arms* 
No ; them we despised ; we dread nothing hut slavery. Death 
is the creature of a poltroon's brains ; 'tis immortality to sa- 
crifice ourselves for the salvation of our country. We fear 
not death. That gloomy night, the pale faced moon, and the 
affrighted stars that hurries through the sky, can witness that 
we fear not death. Our hearts, which, at the recollection, 
glow with rage that four revolving years have scarcely taught 
us to restrain, can witness that we fear not death ; and happy 
it is for those who dared to insult us, that their naked bones 
are not now piled up an everlasting monument of Massachus- 
etts' bravery. But they retired, they fled, and in that flight 
they found their only safety. We then expected that the hand 
of public justice would soon inflict that punishment upon the 
murderers, which, by the laws of God and man, they had in- 
curred. 

" Patriotism is ever united with humanity and compassion. 

^his noble affection which impels us to sacrifice every thing 

ven life itself, to our country, involves in it a common 

thy and tenderness for every citizen, and must ever have 

icular feeling for one who suffers in a public cause — 

uglily persuaded of this, I need not add a word to en- 

. ,,i your compassion and bounty towards a fellow-citizen, 

•ho with long protracted anguish, falls a victim to the relent- 

age of our common enemies. 

l r e dark designing knaves, ye murderers, parasides! how 
you tread upon the earth, which has drank in the blood 

laughtered innocents, shed by your wicked hands? How 
dare you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of heaven, 

[roans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed am- 

n? but if the labouring earth doth not expand her jaws; 



HANCOCK. 209 

if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister 
of death ; yet. hear it, and tremble! the eye of Heaven pene- 
trates the darkest chambers of the soul, traces the leading clue 
through all the labyrinths which your industrious folly has 
devised; and you, however you may have screened yourselves 
from human eyes, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, 
red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at 
the tremendous bar of God. 

" But I gladly quit the gloomy theme of death, and leave 
you to improve the thought of that important day, when our 
naked souls must stand before that being, from whom nothing 
can be hid. I would not dwell too long upon the horrid effects 
which have already followed from quartering regular troops 
in this town: let our misfortunes teach posterity to guard 
against such evils for the future. 

"Let us be ready to take the field whenever danger calls; 
let us be united and strengthen the hands of each other, by 
promoting a general union among us. Much has been done 
by the committees of correspondence, for the houses of assem- 
bly, in this and our sister colonics, for uniting the inhabitants 
of the whole continent. May success ever attend their gen- 
erous endeavors. But permit me here to suggest a general 
congress of deputies, from the several houses of assembly, on 
the continent, as the most effectual method of establishing such 
an union, as the present posture of our affairs require. At such 
a congress a firm foundation may be laid for the security of our 
rights and liberties; a system maybe formed for our common 
safety, by a strict adherence to which, we shall be able to 
frustrate any attempts to overthrow our constitution; restore 
peace and harmony to America, and secure honor and wealth 
to Great Britain, even against the inclinations of her minis- 
ters, whose duty it is to study her welfare; and we shall also 
free ourselves from those unmannerly pillagers who impudent- 
ly tell us, that they are licensed by an act of the British par- 
liament, to thrust their dirty hands into the pockets of every 
American. But, I trust, the happy time will come, when, 
with the besom of destruction, those noxious vermin will be 
swept forever from the streets of Boston. 

"Surely you never will tamely suffer this country to be a 
den of thieves. Remember, my friends, from whom you 
sprang. Let not a meanness of spirit, unknown to those whom 
you boast of as your fathers, excite a thought to the dishonor 
of your mothers. I conjure you by all that is dear, by all that 
is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray, but 
that you act; that, if necessary, ye fight, and even die, for the 
prosperity of our Jerusalem. Break in sunder, with noble 
disdain, the bonds with which the Philistines have bound you. 

27 



219 HANCOCK. 

Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed by the soft arts of luxury 
and effeminacy, into the pit digged for Vour destruction. Des- 
pise the glare of wealth. That people who pay greater re- 
spect to a wealthy villain, than to an honest upright man in 
poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved: they plainly shew that 
wealth, however it may be acquired, is, in their esteem, to be 
preferred to virtue. 

"But, I thank God, that America abounds in men who are 
superior to all temptation, whom nothing can divert from a 
steady pursuit of the interest of their country : who are at 
once its ornament and safe-guard. And sure I am, I should 
not incur your displeasure, if I paid a respect so justly due 
to their much honoured characters in this place; but, when I 
name an Adams, such a numerous host of fellow patriots rush 
upon my mind, that I fear it would take up too much of your 
time, should I attempt to call over the illustrious roll : but 
your grateful hearts will point you to the men; and their re- 
vered names, in all succeeding times, shall grace the annals 
of America. From them, let us, my friends, take example ; 
from them, let us catch the divine enthusiasm: and feel, each 
for himself, the god-like pleasure of diffusing happiness on all 
around us: of delivering the oppressed from the iron grasp o( 
tyranny; of changing the hoarse complaints and bitter moans 
of wretched slaves, into those cheerful songs, which freedom 
and contentment must inspire. There is a heart-felt satisfac- 
tion in reflecting on our exertions for the public weal, which 
all the sufferings an enraged tyrant can inflict, will never take 
away; which the ingratitude and reproaches of those whom 
Ave have saved from ruin, cannot rob us of. The virtuous as- 
serter of the rights of mankind, merits a reward, which even 
a want of success in his endeavours to save his country, the 
heaviest misfortune which can befal a genuine patriot, cannot 
entirely prevent him from receiving. 

"I have the most animating confidence that the present 
noble struggle for liberty, will terminate gloriously for Ame- 
rica. And let us play the man for our God, and for the cities 
of our God; while we are using the means in our power, let 
us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of 

the universe, w r ho loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity 

And having secured the approbation of our hearts, by a faith- 
fu! and unwearied discharge of our duty to our country, let 
us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of Him who raiseth 
up and putteth down the empires and kingdoms of the world 
as He pleases; and with cheerful submission to his sovereign 
will, devoutly say, 

" Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be 
iv, the vines, the labour of the olive shall fall, and the field shaft 






HANCOCK. £11 

yield no meat; thejlock sliall be cutoff from the fold; and there 
shall be no herd in the stalls; yet we will rejoice in the Lord, we 
will joy in the God of our salvation." 

The battle of Lexington now announced the commencement 
of the revolutionary war. To gain possession of the persons 
of Hancock and Adams, who lodged together in that village, 
was one of the motives, it is said, of the expedition which led 
to that memorable conflict. The design, though covered with 
great secrecy, was anticipated, and the victims escaped, upon 
the entrance of their habitation by the British troops. Thus, 
by the felicitous intervention of a moment, were rescued from 
a virulent enemy, and perhaps from the executioner, those 
who were to contribute by their future virtues, to the revolu- 
tion of empires, and to be handed down to posterity as the be- 
nefactors of mankind. 

The defeat of the English in this hattle was followed by the 
governor's proclamation, declaring the prov ince in a state of 
rebellion; offering, at the same time, pardon to all whose pe- 
nitence should recommend them to this act of grace, with the 
exception of those notorious offenders, Samuel Adams, and 
John Hancock. These, by the enormity of their guilt, which 
was declared too flagitious for impunity, were reserved to pro- 
pitiate the ferocity of the royal vengeance. But this signal 
and glorious denunciation, less the effect of good policy, than 
of passion, advanced these popular chiefs upon the lists of 
fame; they were every where hailed with increased acclama- 
tions and applauses, and not only by their illustrious merits, 
but by the dangers to which they were exposed, were endear- 
ed to the affections of their countrymen. 

Hancock, in October, 1774, was unanimously elected pre- 
sident of the provincial congress of Massachusetts. In 1775, 
he attained the meridian of his political distinction, and the 
highest honour that the confidence or the esteem of his com- 
patriots could bestow upon him; being made president of the 
continental congress. By his long experience in business, as 
moderator of the town meetings, president and speaker of the 
provincial assemblies and conventions, during times of great 
turbulence and commotion, in his native state, he was emi- 
nently qualified, as well by his natural dignity of manners, to 
preside in this great council of the nation. 

That there were, in this assembly, personages of a superior- 
age to that of Mr. Hancock, and men, at the same time, of pre- 
eminent virtues and talents, will not be denied ; who required 
at least some indications of deference from a generous mind, 
in reference of their merits. It was, besides, on occasion 
upon which calmness and composure had been little commen- 
dable ; and upon which indifference, or a haughty and super* 



212 HANCOCK. 

cilious confidence had been criminal in him who was crowned 
with the principal honours. For rarely in the vicissitudes of 
nations, has it happened that interests more sacred have been 
confided to the infirmity of human wisdom or integrity ; and 
that a spectacle more imposing has been exhibited to human 
observation. 

In 1776, July 4th, his name appears as president of the con- 
gress which declared the colonies- independant of the crown 
of Great Britain. The name of the president alone was pub- 
lished with the declaration, though every member signed it. 
It was a mark of respect due to Massachusetts, to have one of 
their members in the chair, which had been filled by a member 
from Souti) Carolina and Virginia. Mr Hancock had those 
talents which were calculated to make him appear to more 
advantage as chairman, than in the debates of a public body. 
He excelled as moderator of the Boston town-meetings, as 
president of the provincial congress, and state convention ; 
and, as head of the great council of our nation, he was much 
respected. He discovered a fine address, great impartiality, 
sufficient spirit to command attention, and preserve order. 
His voice and manner were much in his favour, and his ex- 
perience in public business, gave him ease and dignity. 

In 1779, Mr. Hancock resigned his place in congress. He 
was chosen a member of the convention that formed the consti- 
tution of Massachusetts. 

From 1780 to 1785, Mr. Hancock was annually chosen go- 
vernor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. He declined 
being a candidate for the office the ensuing year, and was suc- 
ceeded by the honourable James Bowdoin, Esq. During the 
administration of Mr. Bowdoin, there was an insurrection in 
the state, which was happily quelled. Every thing was done 
in the most judicious manner, by the governor and the legis* 
lature, yet a part of the community appeared to be discontent- 
ed with the administration, and in the year 1787, Mr. Han- 
cock was again placed in the chair. 

His conduct in the state convention during the discussion 
of it, gained him honour. The opposition to this excellent 
form of government was great. It was said that the majo- 
rity of the convention would be against the adoption ; and 
that the governor was with the opposers. He was chosen pre- 
sident of the convention, but did not attend the debates till 
the latter week of the session. Certain amendments were 
proposed to remove the objections of those, who thought some 
of the articles deprived the people of their rights. He intro- 
duced these amendments with great propriety, and voted for 
the adoption of the constitution. His name and influence 
doubtless turned many in favour of the federal government. 



HANCOCK. Sis 

The latter years of his administration were easy to him on 
account of the public tranquility. The federal government 
became the source of so much prosperity, that the people Mere 
easy and happy. The two patriots, Hancock and Adams, 
were reconciled. When lieutenant governor dishing died, 
general Lincoln was chosen as his successor. This gave great 
offence to Mr. Adams, and it was very disagreeable to the go- 
vernor. They joined their strength to support the same mea- 
sures, as well as renewed their friendship. The next year, 
Lincoln was left out of office, and Mr. Adams chosen lieute- 
nant governor. This gentlemen succeeded Mr. Hancock, as 
governor of the commonwealth, after his death. 

He had married, about twenty years before his death, Miss 
Quincy, daughter of an eminent magistrate of Boston. No 
children were, however, left to inherit his fortune, or per- 
petuate his name; his only son having died in his youth. 

He died suddenly on the 8th of October, 1793, in the 55tU 
year of his age. During several days, his body lay in state 
at his mansion, where great multitudes thronged to pay the 
last offices of their grief and affection. His obsequies were at- 
tended with great pomp and solemnity, and amidst the tears of 
his countrymen, he was committed to the dust. Dr. Thacher 
preached his funeral sermon the next sabbath. He was very 
friendly to the clergy of all denominations, and did a great 
deal to promote the cause of learning as well as religion. — 
The library of Harvard college will give an exhibition of his 
munificence: for the name of Hancock, in golden letters, now 
adorns one of the alcoves of the library room, and is upon 
the records of the university among her greatest benefactors. 

In stature he was above the middle size, of excellent pro- 
portion of limbs, of extreme benignity of countenance; pos- 
sessing a flexible and harmonious voice, a manly and digni- 
fied aspect. By the improvement of these natural qualities 
from observation and extensive intercourse with the world, he 
had acquired a pleasing elocution with the most graceful and 
conciliating manners; acquisitions which arc perhaps less 
fitted to the austere virtues of a republic, than to the glitter 
ami magnificence of monarchy; but were used by Mr. Han- 
cock in arts so liberal and beneficial to his country, that the 
most unsocial and supercilious advocate of sobriety, will par- 
don him the possession of them. 

Of his talents it is a sufficient evidence, that, in the various 
stations to which his fortune had elevated him in the republic, 
he acquitted himself with an honourable distinction and ca- 
pacity. His communications to the general assembly, and his 
correspondence as president of congress, are titles of no ordi- 
nary commendation. Of extensive erudition he has given no 
positive testimony. His knowledge was practical and fami- 



214 HANCOCK. 

liar. He neither penetrated the intricacies of profound re* 
search, nor did he mount inaccessible elevations. 

Of the other statesmen and warriors of the revolution, and 
especially of the members of the continental congress, it may 
be observed, that in wisdom and intelligence, as well as in- 
tegrity and magnanimity, they suffer no degradation in being 
compared with the most illustrious patriots of ancient or mo- 
dern times. 

Mr. Hancock was promoted to every office which a man 
fond of public life could expect or desire. Such an elevation 
to prosperous circumstances would make some men giddy, 
and cause others to despise their neighbour, poorer than 
themselves. 

" The greatest fault in his character, was a pevishness and 
irritability that often grieved his friends, but which was for- 
given, on reflecting, that this failing was not owing to a bad 
heart, or a mean spirit, but to perpetual ill health. His con- 
stitution was naturally feeble, and he was for many years se- 
verely afflicted with the gout. The greater portion of his life, 
indeed, was passed in physical suffering ; his mind rose supe- 
rior to this misfortune in the discharge of his public duties : 
and as he never relaxed from these, while it was possible for 
him to continue his efforts, his family, and his acqaintance, 
bore with indulgence a natural consequence of infirmities, un- 
der Which a less powerful mind would have sunk entirely. 

" He possessed many valuable qualifications for public life, 
a knowledge of business, and facility in despatching it, and a 
ready insight into the characters of men. As an orator, he 
was not remarkable ; he seldom made an elaborate speech, 
and the only discourse of his in print, is the oration on the 5th 
of March, 1774. But as the president, moderator, or speaker* 
of an assembly, whether it was a town meeting, or a house of 
representatives, he was not surpassed by any person of his 
time. His voice was powerful, his acquaintance with parlia- 
mentary forms, accurate, and his apprehension of questions, 
quick ; he was attentive, impartial, and dignified; and in these 
situations inspired respect and confidence wherever he pre- 
sided. 

The editor will again refer to, and give an extract from, 
the oration of Richard Rush, Esq. delivered at the city of 
Washington, July 4, 1812. He said, "during the siege of 
Boston, general Washington consulted congress upon the pro- 
priety of bombarding the town. Mr. Hancock was then pre- 
sident of congress. After general Washington's letter was 
read, a solemn silence ensued. This was broken by a mem- 
ber making a motion that the house should resolve itself into 
a committee of the whole, in order that Mr. Hancock might 



HATHAWAY— HAWKINS. 215 

give bis opinion upon the subject, as he was so deeply inter- 
ested from having all his estate in Boston. After he left the 
chair, he addressed the chairman of the committee of the 
whole, in the following words: "It is true, sir, nearly all the 
property I have in the world, is in houses and other real estate 
in the town of Boston; but if the expulsion of the British army 
from it, and the liberties of our country require their being 
burnt to ashes, issue the orders for that purpose immediately." 

HATHAWAY, Benoni, was a brave officer in the revolu- 
tionary war. At the commencement of our revolutionary 
struggle, this venerable man was in the prime of youth and 
vigour of manhood, and was, from its beginning to its close, 
one of its most steady and firm supporters. When Mew Jer- 
sey was overrun by the enemy, when Newark, Elizabcthtown, 
New Brunswick, and most of our principal towns and vil- 
lages were in their possession, he was constantly and actively 
employed on tours of militia duty. He commanded a com- 
pany, acting under the orders of brigadier general Winds, 
and possessed the entire confidence of his commander and of 
his men. He was a man of cool and determined courage and 
prudence, and from his perfect knowledge of the country, and 
the adroitness of his men in the use of the musket, they were 
enabled greatly to annoy and harrass the enemy, by hanging 
on their rear, cutting off their supplies, intercepting their fo- 
raging parties, capturing their guards and sentinels, surpris- 
ing their camp at night, &c. &c. In a night attack which he 
made at Elizabethtown, in December, 1777, upon the British 
and Hessians under general Kniphausen, he received a mus- 
ket ball at the margin of the ear, which, striking the skull 
obliquely, and glancing backward between the skull and the 
skin, passed out at the back part of the head. He was car- 
ried off by his men, supposed to be mortally wounded, but re- 
covered. 

He died at Newark, New Jersey, on the 19th of April, 
1823, in the seventieth year of his age. 

HAWKINS, Nathan, was a native of Rhode Island. He 
manifested an early opposition to the oppressive acts of Great 
Britain. When the port of Boston was shut, in 1774, though 
scarcely arrived to manhood, he was delegated by the town of 
South Kingston to present an offer of provisions to the suf- 
fering inhabitants of Boston. When the news of the ever 
memorable battle of Lexington, the first struggle for liberty, 
reached his native village, it was midnight, and was announc- 
ed by the firing of cannon and the ringing of bells; the watch- 
word then was, "we must fight," and before twelve hours 
had expired, he was at the head of a volunteer corps, march- 
ing to the scene of action. After this he entered the state and 



:i6 HAWLEY. 

United States* service, and was in several engagements dur- 
ing the revolution. At length he retired to Charlestown, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he lived an independent life by the cultiva- 
tion of the soil. 

He died in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the 3d of Octo- 
ber, 1817, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. In his death 
we record another of the few remaining officers of the revolu- 
tion. As they pass off it may be instructive to pause and en- 
quire who they are who are dear to every American, and why 
they have so strong a hold on our sympathy and affection, for 
in them we see that we are losing the founders of our country. 
Bigoted to no party, he was ever a warm advocate for the 
principles of the revolution, and was highly respected for his 
patriotism and integrity. For near thirty years he succes- 
sively held offices of trust and honour in the town, and we be- 
lieve him deserving of that character which is above all praise, 
an honest man. 

HAWLEY, JosEni, distinguished as a statesmand and 
patriot, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1724, 
and was graduated in Yale college in 1742. Soon after fin- 
ishing his collegial education, he engaged in the study and 
the practice of the law in his native town. In this science he 
became a great proficient, and was one of the most distin- 
guished counsellors in the province. Among his other stu- 
dies, he attained to such an eminence of knowledge in politi- 
cal history, and the principles of free government, that, dur- 
ing the disputes between Great Britain and the colonies, he 
was regarded as one of the ablest advocates- of American li- 
berty. His integrity, both in public and in private life, was 
inflexible, and was not even questioned by his political oppo- 
nents. He was repeatedly elected a member of the council, 
but refused in every instance to accept the office, as he prefer- 
red a seat in the house of representatives, where his charac- 
ter for disinterested patriotism, and his bold and manly elo- 
quence gave him an ascendency, which has seldom been equal- 
led. 

In 1776, he, together with Samuel Adams and John Han- 
cock, were elected members of the legislature. He acquir- 
ed great influence in the public councils. The ascendancy 
which was allotted to him by the deference of others, was a 
fortunate circumstance for his country. Never was influence 
exercised with more intelligent, devoted and inflexihle patri- 
otism. He made up his mind earlier than most men, that the 
struggle against oppression would lead to war, and that our 
rights at last must be secured by our arms. As the crisis ap- 
proached, when some persons urged upon him the danger of 
a contest, so apparently unequal. Ins answer v\as, "We must 
put to sea, Providence will bring us into port." 



HAWLEY. 217 

From a correspondence between Mr. John Adams, late pre- 
sident of the United States, and William Wirt. Esq. of Vir- 
ginia, the biographer of Patrick Henry, it would seem that 
the declaration, "JPe must fight," which Mr. Wirt had claim- 
ed for Mr. Henry, was derived from a letter which he him- 
self had shown to Mr. Henry, written by major Hawley, in 

1774. Mr. Adams, in a letter to Mr. Wirt, dated Quincy, 
January 23, 1818, says, "When congress had finished their 
business, as they thought, in the autumn of 1774, I had, with 
Mr. Henry, before we took leave of each other, some familiar 
conversation, in which I expressed a full conviction that our 
resolves, declaration of rights, enumeration of wrongs, pe- 
titions, remonstrances and addresses, associations, and non- 
importation agreements, however they might be expected in 
America, and however necessary to cement the union of the 
colonies, would be but waste water in England. Mr. Hen- 
ry said they might make some impression among the people 
of England, but agreed with me that they would be totally 
lost upon the government. I had just received a short and 
hasty letter, written to me by major Joseph Hawley, of North- 
ampton, containing a few 'broken hints,' as he called them, 
of what he thought was proper to be done, and concluding 
with these words, 'after all we must fight.' This let- 
ter I read to Mr. Henry, who listened with great attention? 
and as soon as I had pronounced the words, 'after all we must 
fight,' he raised his head, and, with an energy and vehemence 

that I never can forget, broke out with 'By 1 am of that 

man's mind.' I put the letter into his hand, and when he had 
read it he returned it to me, with an equally solemn assever- 
ation, that he agreed entirely in opinion with the writer. I 
considered this as a sacred oath, upon a very great occasion, 
and could have sworn it as religiously as he did, and by no 
means inconsistent with what you say, in some part of your 
book, that he never took the Sacred Name in vain." 

" As I knew the sentiments with which Mr. Henry left 
congress in the autumn of 1774, and knew the chapter and 
verse from which he had borrowed the sublime expression, 
'We must fight,' I was not at all surprised at your history, 
in the 122d page, in the note, and in some of the preceding 
and following pages. Mr. Henry only pursued in March, 

1775. the views and vows of November, 1774. 

"The other delegates from Virginia returned to their state 
in full confidence, that all our grievances would be redressed. 
The last words that Mr. Richard Henry Lee said to me when 
we parted, w r ere, ( we shall infallibly carry all our points. You 
will be completely relieved ; all the offensive acts will be repeal' 

28 



218 HAWLEY. 

ed; the army and fleet will be recalled, and Britain will give 
up her foolish project.' 

" Washington only was in doubt. He never spoke in pub- 
lic. In private he joined with those, who advocated a non- 
exportation, as well as a non-importation agreement. With 
both he thought we should prevail; without either, he thought 
it doubtful. Henry was clear in one opinion, Richard Henry 
Lee in an opposite opinion, and Washington doubted between 
the two. Henry, however, appeared in the end to be exactly in 
the right." 

In 1819, president Adams communicated the 'broken hints/ 
alluded to in the foregoing, to II. Nilcs. Esq. which are insert- 
ed at length in Mr. Niles's valuable work, entitled, "Princi- 
ples and Acts of the Revolution in America," a work which 
ought to he in the library of every man w ho venerates the prin- 
ciples and the men of '76. We here insert an extract from 
the ''broken hints." 

"We must fight, if we can't otherwise rid ourselves of Bri- 
tish taxation, all revenues, and the constitution or form of go- 
vernment enacted for us by the British parliament. It is evil 
against right; utterly intolerable to every man who has any 
idea or feeling of right or liberty. 

"It is easy to demonstrate that the regulation act will soon 
annihilate every thing of value in the charter, introduce per- 
fect despotism, and render the house of representatives a mere 
form and ministerial engine. 

"It is now or never, that we must assert our liberty. — - 
Twenty years will make the number of tories on this continent 
equal to the number of whigs. They who shall be born will 
not have any idea of a free government. 

"It will necessarily be a question, whether the new govern- 
ment of this province shall be suffered to take place at all; or 
whether it shall be immediately withstood and resisted? 

"A most important question this; I humbly conceive it not 
best forcibly or wholly to resist it immediately. 

"There is not heat enough f%i for battle. Constant, and a 
sort of negative resistance of government, will increase the 
heat and blow the fvre. There is not military skill enough. 
That is improving, and must be encouraged and improved, 
but will daily increase. 

"Fight we must, finally, unless Britain retreats. 
"But it is of infinite consequence that victory be the end 
and issue of hostilities. If we get to fighting before necessary 
dispositions are made for it, we shall he conquered, and all 
will be lost forever. 

"Our salvation depends upon an established persevering 
union of the colonies. 



HAWLEY. 219 

"The tools of administration are using every device and 
effort to destroy that union, and they will certainly continue 
so to do. 

"Thereupon, all possible devices and endeavors must be 
used to establish, improve, brighten, and maintain such union. 

* 'Every grievance of any one colony must be held and con- 
sidered by the whole as a grievance to the whole, and must 
operate on the whole as a grievance to the whole. This will 
be a difficult matter to effect: but it must be done. 

"Quere, therefore: whether is it not absolutely necessary 
that some plan be settled for a continuation of congresses? — 
But here we must be aware that congresses will soon be de- 
clared and enacted by parliament, to be high treason. 

"Is the India company to be compensated or not? 

"If to be compensated ; each colony to pay the particular 
damage she has done, or is an average to be made on the con- 
tinent? 

"The destruction of the tea was not unjust; therefore, to 
what good purpose is the tea to be paid for, unless we are as- 
sured that, by so doing, our rights will be restored and peace 
obtained? 

"What future measures is the continent to preserve with re- 
gard to imported dutied tea, whether it comes as East India 
property or otherwise, under the pretence and lie that the tea 
is imported from Holland, and the goods imported before a 
certain given day? Dutied tea will be imported and consum- 
ed; goods continue to be imported: your non-importation 
agreement eluded, rendered contemptible and ridiculous; un- 
less all teas used, and all goods, are taken into some public 
custody which will be inviolably faithful." 

Major Hawley did not appear in the legislature after the 
year 1776, but he never relaxed his zeal in the service of his 
country, and was ready to contribute his efforts to the public 
service. By his private exertions he rendered assistance at 
some very critical and discouraging periods. At the season 
when the prospects of the American army were the most 
gloomy, when the Jerseys were overrun, and the feelings of 
many were on the verge of despondency, he exerted himself 
with great activity and success, to rally the spirits of his fel- 
low-citizens. At this time, when apathy appeared stealing 
upon the country, and the people were reluctant to march, on 
a seemingly desperate enterprise, he addressed a body of mi- 
litia to urge them to volunteer as recruits. His manly elo- 
quence, his powerful appeals to their pride, their patriotism, 
their duty, to every thing which they held dear and sacred, 
awakened their dormant feelings, and excited them to enthu- 
siasm. 



220 HAYNE. 

Major Ilawlcy was a sincerely religious and pious man, 
but here, as in politics, he loathed all tyranny and fanatical 
usurpation. In the latter part of 1776, he was afflicted with 
hypochondriacal disorders, to which he had been frequently 
subject in former periods of his life; and after this declined 
public business. He died, March 10, 1788, aged sixty-four 
years. 

Major Hawley was a patriot without personal animosities, 
an orator without vanity, a lawyer without chicanery, and a 
gentleman without ostentation; a statesman without duplicity, 
and a christian without bigotry. As a man of commanding 
talents, his firm renunciation and self-denial of all ambitious 
views, would have secured him that respect which such 
strength of mind inevitably inspires; while his voluntary and 
zealous devotion to the service of his countrymen, established 
liim in their affection. His uprightness and plainness, united 
to his affability and disinterestedness, gave most extensive in- 
fluence to his opinions, and in a period of doubt, divisions and 
danger, men sought relief from their perplexities in his au- 
thority, and suffered their course to be guided by him; when 
they distrusted their own judgments, or the counsels of others. 
He, in fine, formed one of those manly, public spirited, and 
generous citizens, ready to share peril and decline reward, 
who illustrate the idea of a commonwealth, and who, through 
the obstructions of human passions and infirmities, being of 
rare occurrence, will always be the most admired, appropri- 
ate, and noble ornaments of a free government. 

HAYNE, Isaac, a martyr to American liberty, during the 
revolutionary war, served his country as an officer of militia, 
during the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. After the 
city had fallen into the hands of the British, lord Cornwallis 
issued a proclamation, requiring of the inhabitants of the co- 
lony, that they should no longer take part in the contest, but 
continue peaceably at their homes, and they should be most sa- 
credly protected in property and person. This was accom- 
panied with an instrument of neutrality, which soon obtained 
the signatures of many of the citizens of South Carolina, 
among whom was colonel Hayne. There was no alternative 
left him. but to abandon his family and property, or to surren- 
der to the conquerors. The small pox was near his planta- 
tion, and he had a wife and six small children, and more than 
one hundred negroes, all liable to the disease. To acknow- 
ledge himself the subject of a government which he had from 
principle renounced, was repugnant to his feelings ; but, 
without this, he was cut off from every prospect of return to 
his family. 

In this embarrassing situation, he waited on Dr. Ramsay, 



HAYNE. 221 

with a declaration to the following effect. "If the British 
would grant me the indulgence which we in the day of our 
power gave to their adherents, of removing my family and 
property, I would seek an asylum in the remotest corner of 
the United States, rather than submit to their government; 
but, as they allow no other alternative than submission or 
confinement in the capital, at a distance from my wife and fa- 
mily, at a time when they arc in the most pressing need of mj 
presence and support, I must for the present yield to the de- 
mands of the conquerors. I request you to bear in mind, that 
previous to my taking this step, I declare that it is contrary 
to my inclination, and forced on me by hard necessity. I 
never will bear arms against my country. My new masters 
can require no service of me, but what is enjoined by the old 
militia law of the province, which substitutes a fine in lieu of 
personal service. This I will pay as the price of my protec- 
tion. If my conduct should be censured by my countrymen, 
I beg that you would remember this conversation, and bear 
witness for me, that I do not mean to desert the cause of Ame- 
rica." 

In this state of perplexity, colonel Hayne subscribed a de- 
claration of his allegiance to the king of Great Britain ; but 
not without expressly objecting to the clause which required 
him with his arms to support the royal government. The com- 
mandant of the garrison, Brigadier general Patterson and 
James Simpson, Esquire, intendent of the British police, as- 
sured him that this would never be required; and added fur- 
ther, that when the regular forces could not defend the coun- 
try, without the aid of its inhabitants, it would be high time 
for the royal army to quit it. Having submitted to the royal 
goverment, lie was permitted to return to his family. Not- 
withstanding what had passed at the time of his submission, 
he was repeatedly called on to take arms against bis country- 
men, and finally threatened with close confinement in case of 
a further refusal. This he considered as a breach of contract, 
and it being no longer in the power of the British to give him 
that protection which was to be the compensation of his alle- 
giance, he viewed himself as released from all engagements 
to their commanders. 

Colonel Hayne now being compelled, in violation of the 
most solemn compact, to take up arms, resolved that the in- 
vaders of his native country should be the objects of bis ven- 
geance. He withdrew from the British, and was invested 
with a command in the continental service; but it was soon 
his hard fortune to be captured by the enemy and carried into 
Charleston. Lord Rawdon, the commandant, immediately or- 
dered him to be loaded with irons, and, after a sort of a mock 



£22 HAYNK. 

trial, he was sentenced to be hung ! This sentence seized all 
classes of people with horror and dismay, A petition, headed 
by the British Go\ernor Bull, and signed by a number of Roy- 
alists, was presented in his behalf, but was totally disregarded. 
The ladies of Charleston, both whigs and tories, now united 
in a petition to Lord Rawdon, couched in the most eloquent 
and moving language, praying that the valuable life of Co- 
lonel Hayne might be spared ; but this also was treated with 
neglect. It was next proposed that Colonel Hayne's children, 
(the mother had recently expired with the small pox,) should 
in their mourning habiliments, be presented to plead for the 
life of their only surviving parent. Being introduced into his 
presence, they fell on their knees, and with clasped hands and 
weeping eyes, they lisped their father's name and plead most 
earnestly for his life. Reader ! what is your anticipation ; 
do you imagine that Lord Rawdon, pitying their motherless 
condition, tenderly embraced these afflicted children and res- 
tored them to the fond embrace of their father ? No ! ! the un- 
feeling man was still inexorable; he suffered even these little 
ones to plead in vain ! His son, was permitted to stay 
with his father in prison, who beholding his only parent 
loaded with irons and condemned to die, was overwhelmed 
in grief and sorrow. "Why," said he, "my son, will you 
thus break your father's heart with unavailing sorrow ? — 
Have I not often told you that we came into this world but to 
prepare for a better ? For that better life, my dear boy, your 
father is prepared. Instead then of weeping, rejoice with 
me. my son, that my troubles arc so near an end. To-morrow 
I set out for immortality. You will accompany me to the place 
of my execution; and, when I am dead, take and bury me by 
the side of your mother." The youth here fell on his father's 
neck, crying. "Oh, my father! my father! I will die with 
you! I will die with you!" Colonel Hayne would have re- 
turned the strong embrace of his son; but, alas! his hands 
were confined with irons. "Live," said he, "my son, live 
to honour God by a good life, live to serve your country; and 
live to take care of your brother and little sisters!" 

The colonel was repeatedly visited by his friends, and con- 
versed on various subjects with a becoming fortitude. He 
particularly lamented that, on principles of retaliation, his 
execution would probably be an introduction to the shedding 
of much innocent blood. He requested those in whom the su- 
preme power was vested, to accommodate the mode of his 
death to the feelings of an officer; but this was refused. On 
the last evening of his life he told a friend that he was no 
more alarmed at the thoughts of death, than at any other oc- 
currence which was necessarv and unavoidable. 






HAYNE. 323 

On receiving his summons on the morning of August the 
4th, to proceed to the place of execution, he delivered to his 
eldest son, a youth of about thirteen years of age, several pa- 
pers relative to his case, and said, " Present these papers to 
Mrs. Edwards, with my request, that she should forward 
them to her brother in congress. You will repair to the place 
of execution, receive my body, and see it decently interred 
among my forefathers." They took a final leave. The co- 
lonel's arms were pinioned, and a guard placed round his per- 
son. The procession began from the Exchange in the fore- 
noon. The streets were crowded with thousands of anxious 
spectators. He walked to the place of execution with such 
decent firmness, composure and dignity, as to awaken the com- 
passion of many, and command respect from all. Soon as 
they came in sight of the gallows, the father strengthened 
himself and said, "now, mtf son, show yourself a man! That 
tree is the boundary of my life, and of all my life's sorrows- Be- 
yond that the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at 
rest. Don't lay too much to heart our separation from you: it will 
be but short. It was but lately your dear mother died. To-day I 
die, and you, my son, though but young, must shortly follow us." 
"Yes, my father," replied the broken hearted youth. " I shall 
shortly follow you; for indeed I feel that I cannot live long." 

He ascended the cart with a firm step and serene aspect. 
He inquired of the executioner, who was making an attempt 
to get up to pull the cap over his eyes, what he wanted. On 
being informed, the colonel replied, "I will save you the 
trouble," and pulled the cap over himself. He was after- 
wards asked whether he wished to say any thing, to which 
he answered, "I will only take leave of my friends, and 
be ready." He then affectionately shook hands with three 
gentlemen, recommended his children to their care, and gave 
the signal for the cart to move. 

The son on seeing his father in the hands of the execution- 
er, and then struggling in the halter, he stood like one trans- 
fixed and motionless with horror. Till then he had wept in- 
cessantly, but soon as he saw that sight, the fountain of his 
tears was staunched, and he never wept more. He died in- 
sane, and in his last moments often called on the name of his 
father in terms that brought tears from the hardest heart. 

We have selected the foregoing particulars from "Thach- 
er's Journal," and " Collections, Historical and Miscellane- 
ous," a neat monthly literary Journal, published in Concord, 
New Hampshire, by Jacob B. Moore. We select what fol- 
lows, from " Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War." 

"Irregularities in the mode of conducting the war, in the 
highest degree disgraceful to the American cause, had fre- 



224 HAYNE. 

quently occurred. That these resulted, for the most part, 
from excessive provocation on the part of the enemy, an('. law- 
less excesses encouraged towards the whig inhabitants 
of the South, cannot be denied, and as acts of retaliation can 
alone be palliated, even with a shadow of excuse. No man la- 
mented them with greater sincerity than Colonel Hayne, for 
none more anxiously wished the American character to be free 
from reproach. Soon, then, as solicited by his neighbours, 
and the inhabitants generally, of the District, to resume a 
hostile position, to become their leader, and direct their ope- 
rations against the enemy, he made an honorable and open de- 
claration : "That he could only be induced to comply with 
their wishes, by obtaining a solemn promise from all who 
wore to serve under him, that an immediate stop should be 
put to every unnecessary severity ; a desideratum the more 
to be insisted upon, as he was resolved that exemplary pun- 
ishment should be inflicted on every individual who should 
indulge in pillage, or commit any act of inhumanity against 
the foe." A copy of the address made to his soldiers on this 
occasion, was found on him at the period of his captivity ; but 
although it forcibly expressed his abhorrence of crime, and 
was replete with sentiments that did honour to his humanity, 
it availed not to soften the rigour of persecution, nor in the 
slightest degree to mitigate the severity of the punishment de- 
nounced against him. When the paper which contained this 
honourable testimony of generous feeling was presented to 
Major M'Kenzic, who sat as President of the tribunal before 
which Colonel Hayne was arraigned, he, with great expres- 
sion of sensibility, requested the prisoner "to retain it till he 
should be brought before the Court Martial that was to deter- 
mine his fate," assuring him, "that the present Court were 
only directed to inquire, whether or not he acknowledged him- 
self to be the individual who had taken protection." It is un- 
necessary to add, that this trial was never granted. Lord 
Itawdon reached the city from the interior country, and at his 
command an order for immediate execution was issued. Lit- 
tle did the sympathy that melted every heart to tenderness; 
little did the pathetic address of the lovely daughters of the 
soil, calculated to move even the bosom of obduracy, avail. 
Heedless of the prayers and solicitations of his afflicted 
friends and relatives, deaf to the cries of his children, who 
even with bended knees interceded for mercy, insensible to 
the dictates of humanity, his resolution was fixed as ada- 
mant, and a hero was sacrificed." 

In Lee's memoirs we also find the following narrative of 
the last scene of his life : "Accompanied by a few friends, 
he marched with unruffled serenity through a weeping crowd 



HEATH. 223 

to the place of execution. The sight of the gibbet accasion- 
ed a momentary expression of agony and dismay. He paused, 
but immediately recovering his wonted firmness, moved for- 
ward. At this instant, a friend whispered his confidence, that 
he would exhibit an example of the firmness with which an 
American could die. "I will endeavour to do so," was the 
reply of the modest martyr. Never was intention better ful- 
filled. Neither arrogating superiority, nor betraying weak- 
ness, he ascended the cart unsupported and unappalled. Hav- 
ing taken leave of his friends, and commended his infant fa- 
mily to their protection, he drew the cap over his eyes, and il- 
lustrated, by his demeanor, that death in the cause of our coun- 
try, even on a gallows, cannot appal the virtues of the brave." 

Thus fell colonel Isaac Hayne in the bloom of life, furnish- 
ing that example in death, which extorted a confession from, 
his enemies, that though he did not die in a good cause, he 
must at least have acted from a persuasion of its being so. 

HEATH, William, was a native of Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts, and was from his youth a cultivator of the soilj 
which was his favourite pursuit. He was not conversant with 
general literature, but being particularly attached to the 
study of military tactics, he acquired, a knowledge of modern 
warfare in its various branches and duties. 

At an early period of the opposition of the colonies to the 
unjust and oppressive measures of the British ministry, ho 
whs an active militia officer, and assiduously engaged in orga- 
nizing and disciplining the companies of militia and minute 
men. In the year 1775, being ranked among the patriots and 
advocates for liberty, he was by the Provincial Congress, 
commissioned as a brigadier general. 

During the siege of Boston, he was in commission as a ge- 
neral officer. When general Washington contemplated an 
attack on Boston, general Heath was offered the command 
of a division, but he declined it. 

In August, 1776, he was by Congress promoted to the rank of 
major general in the continental army, and in the campaign 
of that year he commanded a division near the enemy's lines 
at King's bridge and Morrisania. During the year 1777, 
and till November, 1778, he was the commanding officer of 
the eastern department, and his head quarters were at Bos- 
ton. Here devolved on him the very arduous duties of su- 
perintendent of the convention troops, captured with general 
Burgoyne at Saratoga, which were quartered at Cambridge. 
This station required a character of uncommon firmness and 
decision, and had General Heath been destitute of these qua- 
lities, he would have been subjected to the grossest impositions 
and indignities, from the haughty generals Burgoyne an'? 

28 



MA HEATH. 

Phillips, and the perverse temper of their soldiery. These 
officers, lofty in spirit, and of high rank and character, now 
chagrined by a state of captivity, occasioned to general Heath 
a series of difficulties and vexations. He soon, however, con- 
vinced them that he was neither deficient in spirit, nor ignor- 
ant of his duty as a military commander. In all his proceed- 
ings with these turbulent captives, he supported the authority 
of congress and the honor and dignity of the command repos- 
ed in him; and he received the entire approbation of that ho- 
norable body, to whom he was amenable for his conduct. In 
the most interesting and critical circumstances in which a ge- 
neral could possibly be placed, iie uniformly exhibited a pru- 
dence, animation, decision and firmness, which have done him 
honor, and fully justified the confidence reposed in him. 

The cordial and most explicit approbation of the army, the 
inhabitants of this town, the army and navy of our illustrious 
ally, the government of this state, his Excellency the com- 
mander in chief, and of congress, added to the consciousness 
of his having discharged his trust with fidelity, must in a great 
measure have alleviated the fatigues incident to his arduous 
station, and compensated the loss of his health so much im- 
paired by an incessant attention to business. In June, 1779, 
general Heath was elected by congress a commissioner of the 
board of war, with a salary of four thousand dollars per an- 
num, and allowed to retain his rank in the army, which he 
declined, preferring to participate in active operations in the 
field. 

In the summer of 1780, he was directed by the commander 
in chief to repair to Rhode Island to make arrangements for 
the reception of the French fleet and army which were expect- 
ed soon to arrive. In his interview with the Count Rocham- 
heau, and other officers of the French army and navy, he prof- 
fered his friendly civilities and contributed all in his power 
to their comfortable accommodation, which was productive 
of a mutual and lasting friendship between them. Indefatiga- 
ble attention to duty in the various stations assigned him, was 
a prominent trait in his character. In May. 1781, general 
Heath was directed by the commander in chiefs repair to the 
New England states to represent to their repective executives 
the distressing condition of our army, and to solicit a speedy 
supply of provisions and clothing, in which he was successful. 
As senior major general, be was more than once commander 
of the right wing of our army, and during the absence of the 
commander in chief, at the siege of JTorktown, he was en- 
trusted with the command of the main army posted at the high- 
lands and vicinity, to guard the important works on the Hud- 
son. On the 24th of June, 1784, hostilities having ceased 



HENRY. 227 

between the two amies, general Washington addressed a let- 
ter to general Heath, expressing his thanks for his meritorious 
services, and bis real affection and esteem, and on the same 
day they took their final leave. 

General Heath was corpulent and bald headed, which occa- 
sioned some of the French officers to observe that he resem- 
bled the marquis of Granby, and he appeared always pleased 
with the comparison. As an officer of parade and discipline, 
he was respectable. 

Immediately after the close of the war, general Heath was 
called again into public service in civil life, and continued to 
hold a seat either in the legislature, or in the council of 
Massachusetts, till the county of Norfolk was established, in 
1793, when he was appointed by governor Hancock, judge 
of probate, and a justice of the court of common pleas, the 
latter office he did not accept. In the former he continued till 
his death. He was also a member of the state convention 
which ratified the federal constitution. All these offices he 
discharged with assiduity, affability and impartiality, and to 
the general satisfaction of his fellow citizens. 

He had formed his opinion of human nature on the most fa- 
vourable examples, and to the close of life had a strong re- 
gard to popular opinion. He repeatedly allowed himself to 
be held up and voted for, for the office of governor and lieu- 
tenant governor of the commonwealth, and at one period, had, 
no doubt, a willingness and desire to hold one of these offices. 

In 1806, he was elected lieutenant governor, but he refused 
to serve. He was more than once an elector of president 
and vice president of the United States. 

He died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, January 24, 1814, 
aged 77 years. 

HENRY, Patrick, governor of Virginia, and a most elo- 
quent and distinguished orator, took an early and active part 
in support of the rights of his country, against the tyranny of 
Great Britain. He was born at Studley, in the county of 
Hanover, and state of Virginia, on the 29th May, 1736. 
He descended from respectable Scotch ancestry, in the pater- 
nal line: and his mother was a native of the county in which 
he was born. On the maternal side, at least, he seems to have 
descended from a rhetorical race. 

Her brother William, the father of the present Judge Wins- 
ton, is said to have been highly endowed with that peculiar 
cast of eloquence, for which Mr. Henry became, afterwards, 
so justly celebrated. Of this gentleman I have an anecdote 
from a correspondent, which I shall give in his own words. — 
i I have often heard my father, who was intimately acquainted 
with this? William Winston, say, that he was the greatest ora- 



228 HENRY. 

tor whom he ever heard, Patrick Henry excepted; that during 
the last French and Indian war, and soon after Braddock's 
defeat, when the militia were marched to the frontiers of Vir- 
ginia, against the enemy, this Mr. Winston was the lieutenant 
of a company; that the men, who were indifferently clothed. 
without tents, and exposed to the rigour and inclemency of 
the weather, discovered great aversion to the service, and 
were anxious and even clamorous to return to their families ; 
when this William Winston, mounting a stump, (the common 
rostrum of the field orators in Virginia,) addressed them with 
such keenness of invective, and declaimed with such force of 
eloquence, on liberty and patriotism, that when he concluded, 
the general cry was, 'let us march on: lead us against the 
enemy:' and they were now willing, nay, anxious to encounter 
all those difficulties and dangers, which, but a few moments 
before, had almost produced a mutiny.' 

In childhood and youth, Patrick Henry, whose name ren- 
ders titles superfluous, gave no presages of his future great- 
ness. He learned to read and write, reluctantly; made some 
small progress in arithmetic; acquired a superficial knowledge 
of the Latin language; and made a considerable proficiency 
in the mathematics, the only branch of education for which 
he discovered, in his youth, the slightest predilection. The 
whole soul of his youth was bound up in the sports of the field. 
His idleness was absolutely incurable; and, of course, he 
proved a truant lad, who could sit all day on a bridge, wait- 
ing for a good bite, or even, 'one glorious nibble.' The un- 
happy effects of this idleness were lasting as his life; and the 
biographer very properly cautions his youthful readers against 
following this bad example. 

His propensity to observe and comment upon the human 
character, was the only circumstance, which distinguished 
him, advantageously, from his youthful companions. 

From what has been already stated, it will be seen, how 
little education had to do with the formation of this great 
man's mind. He was, indeed, a mere child of nature, 
and nature seems to have been too proud and too jealous 
of her work, to permit it to be touched by the hand of 
art. She gave him Shakspcare's genius, and bade him, like 
Shakspearc. to depend on that alone. Let not the youthful 
reader, however, deduce, from the example of Mr. Henry, an 
argument in favour of indolence and the contempt of study. 
Let him remember that the powers which surmounted the dis- 
advantage of those early habits, were such as very rarely ap- 
pear upon this earth. Let him remember, too, how long the 
genius, even of Mr. Henry, was kept down and hidden from 
'the public view, by the sorcery of those pernicious habit;* ; 



HENRY. 229 

through what years of poverty and wretchedness they doomed 
nim to struggle: and, let him remember, that, at length, 
when i»i the zenith of his glory, Mr. Henry, himself, had 
frequent occasions to deplore the consequences of his early 
neglect of literature, and to bewail 'the ghosts of his departed 
hours.' 

At the age of fifteen years, young Henry was placed behind 
the counter of a merchant in the country; and at sixteen his 
father set him up in trade, in partnership with his brother 
"William. Through laziness, the love of music, the charms 
of the chase, and a readiness to trust every one, the firm was 
soon reduced to bankruptcy. The only advantage which re- 
sulted from his short continuance in mercantile business, was 
an opportunity to study human characters. 

At eighteen, Mr. Henry married the daughter of an honest 
farmer, and undertook to cultivate a few acres for himself. — ■ 
His only delights, -at this time, were those which flow from the 
endearing relations of conjugal life. His want of agricul- 
tural skill, and his unconquerable aversion to every species 
of systematic labour, terminated his career as a planter, in 
the short space of two years. Again he had recourse to mer- 
chandise, and again failed in business. Every atom of his 
property was now gone, his friends were unable to assist him 
any further; he had tried every means of support, of which 
he thought himself capable, and every one had failed ; ruin 
was behind him; poverty, debt, want, and famine before; and 
as if his cup of misery were not already full enough, here 
was a suffering wife and children to make it overflow. Still 
lie had a cheerful temper, and his passion was music, dancing, 
and pleasantry. About this time he became fond of geography 
and historical works generally. Li vy was his favourite: and in 
some measure, awakened the dormant powers of his genius. As 
a last effort, he determined, of his own accord, to make a trial 
of the law. He, however, disliked the professional business 
of an attorney at law, and he seems to have hoped for nothing 
more from the profession, than a scanty subsistence for him- 
self and his family, and his preparation was suited to these 
humble expectations; for, to the study of a profession, which 
is said to require the lucubrations of twenty years, Mr. Hen- 
ry devoted not more than six weeks. On examination he was 
licensed, rather through courtesy, and some expectation that 
he would study, than from any conviction which his examiners 
had of his present competence. At the age of four and twenty 
he was admitted to the bar: and for three years occupied the 
back ground; during which period the wants and distresses 
of his family were extreme; and he performed the duty of an 
assistant to his father-in-law in a tavern. 



230 HENRY. 

In 1764, he pursued his favourite amusement of hunting, 
with extreme ardour; and has heen known to hunt deer, fre- 
quently for several davs together, carrying his provisions with 
him, and at night encamping in the woods. 

After the hunt was over, he would go from the ground to 
Louisa court; clad in a coarse cloth coat, stained with all the 
trophies of the chase, greasy leather breeches ornamented in 
the same way. leggings for boots, and a pair of saddle-bags on 
his arm. Thus accoutred, he would enter the court-house, 
take up the first of his causes that chanced to be called ; and 
if there was any scope for his peculiar talent, throw his ad- 
versary into the back ground, and astonish both court and 
jury by the powerful effusions of his natural eloquence. 

In the same year he was introduced to the gay and fashion- 
able circle at Williamsburg, then the seat of government for 
the state, that he might be counsel in the case of a contested 
election ; but he made no preparation for pleading: and, as we 
might naturally suppose, none for appearing in a suitable 
costume. He moved awkwardly about in his threadbare and 
course dress ; and while some thought him a prodigy, others 
concluded him to be an idiot: nevertheless, before the commit- 
tee of elections, he delivered an argument which judge Tyler, 
judge Winston, and others pronounced the best they had ever 
heard. In the same year, it is asserted on the authority of 
Mr. Jefferson, that Mr. Henry gave the first impulse to the 
ball of the revolution. He originated the spirit of the revo- 
lution in Virginia, unquestionably ; and possessed a daunt- 
less soul, exactly suited to the important work he was destin- 
ed to perform. 

In the year 1765, he was a member of the assembly of Vir* 
ginia. He introduced his celebrated resolutions against the 
stamp act, which breathed a spirit of liberty, and which had 
a tendency to rouse the people of that commonwealth in favour 
of our glorious revolution. 

After his death, there was found among his papers, one 
sealed, and thus endorsed ; " Inclosed are the resolutions 
of the Virginia assembly, in 1765, concerning the stamp 
act. Let my executors open this paper.'' Within was found 
the following copy of the resolutions, in Mr. Henry's hand 
writing : 

" Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this, 
his majesty's colony and dominion, brought with them, and 
transmitted to their posterity, and all other his majesty's sub- 
jects, since inhabiting in this, his majesty's said colony, all the 
privileges, franchises, and immunities, that have at any time 
been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the people of Great 
Britain. 



HENRY. 231 

" Resolved, That by two royal charters, granted by king 
James the first, the colonists aforesaid, arc declared entitled 
to all the privileges, liberties, and immunities, of denizens 
and natural born subjects, to all intents and purposes, as if 
they had been abiding and born within the realm of England. 

"Resolved, That the taxation of the people by themselves, 
or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who 
can only know what taxes the people are able to bear, and 
the easiest mode of raising them, and are equally affected by 
such taxes themselves, is the distinguishing characteristic of 
British freedom, and without which the ancient constitution 
cannot subsist. 

"Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this most an- 
cient colony, have interruptedly enjoyed the right of being 
thus governed by their own assembly, in the article of their 
taxes and internal police, and that the same hath never been 
forfeited, or any other way given up, but hath been con- 
stantly recognized by the king and people of Great Britain. 

"Resolved, therefore, That the general assembly of this co- 
lony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and imposi- 
tions upon the inhabitants of this colony; and that every at- 
tempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatso- 
ever, other than the general assembly aforesaid, has a mani- 
fest tendency to destroy British as well as American free- 
dom." 

" On the back of the paper containing those resolutions, is 
the following endorsement, which is also in the hand-writing 
of Mr. Henry himself. 'The within resolutions passed the 
house of burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first op- 
position to the stamp act, and the scheme of taxing America 
by the British parliament. Ail the colonies, either through 
fear, or want of opportunity to form an opposition, or from, 
influence of some kind or other, had remained silent. I had 
been, for the first time, elected a burgess, a few days before; 
was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the forms of the 
house, and the members that composed it. Finding the men 
of weight averse to opposition, and the commencement of the 
tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step forth, I de- 
termined to venture, and alone, unadvised, and unassisted, on 
a blank leaf of an old law book, wrote the within. Upon of- 
fering them to the house, violent debates ensued. Many threats 
were uttered, and much abuse cast on me, by the party for sub- 
mission. After a long and warm contest, the resolutions 
passed by a very small majority, perhaps of one or two only. 
The alarm spread throughout America with astonishing 
quickness, and the ministerial party were overwhelmed. The 
great point of resistance to British taxation was universally 



23£ HENRY. 

established in the colonics. This brought on the war, wbicfa 
finally separated the two countries, and gave independence to' 
ours. Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse, will de- 
pend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a 
gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they 
will be great and happy. It* they are of a contrary character, 
they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them 
as a nation. 

* Reader! whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy 
sphere, practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others. — 
P. Henry.' 

Such is the short, plain, and modest account, which Mr- 
Henry has left of this transaction. 

Every American realized the truth expressed in Mr. Hen- 
ry's resolutions; but no man beside himself boldly dare to ut- 
ter it. All wished for independence; and all hitherto trembled 
at the thought of asserting it. 

Mr. Wirt, in his life of Henry, from which we select this 
sketch, says, "the following is Mr. Jefferson's account of this 
transaction: 

'•Mr. Henry moved and Mr. Johnston seconded these re- 
solutions successively. They were opposed by Messrs. Ran- 
dolph, Bland, Pendleton, Wythe, and all the old members, 
whose influence in the house had, till then, been unbroken. 
They did it, not from any question of our rights, but on the 
ground, that the same sentiments had been, at their preced- 
ing session, expressed in a more conciliatory form, to which 
the answers were not yet received. But torrents of sublime 
eloquence from Henry, backed by the solemn reasoning of 
Johnson, prevailed. The last, however, and strongest reso- 
lution, was carried but by a single vote. The debate on it 
was most bloody. I was then but a student, and stood at the 
door of communication between the house and the lobby (for 
as yet there was no gallery) during the whole debate and vote ; 
and I well remember that, after the numbers on the division 
were told and declared from the chair, Peyton Randolph (the 
attorney general) came out at the door where I was standing,, 
and said as he entered the lobby, 'by , I would have giv- 
en five hundred guineas for a single vote :' for one vote would 
have divided the house, and Robison was in the chair, who he 
knew would have negatived the resolution. 

"By these resolutions, and his manner of supporting them, 
Mr. Henry took the lead out of the hands of those who had 
theretofore guided the proceedings of the house; that is to 
say, of Pendleton, Wythe, Bland, Randolph." It was, in- 
deed, the measure which raised him to the zenith of his glory. 
He had never before had a subject which entirely matched his 



HENRY. 233 

genius* and was capable of drawing out all the powers of his 
mind. It was remarked of him throughout his life that his 
talents never failed to rise with the ocasion, and in proportion 
to the resistance which he had to encounter. The nicety of 
the vote on his last resolution, proves that this was not a time 
to hold in reserve any part of his forces. 

" It was indeed, an alpine passage, under Circumstances 
even more unpropitious than those of Hannibal : for he had 
not only to fight, hand to hand, the powerful party who were 
already in possession of the heights, but at the same instant, 
to cheer and animate the timid band of followers, that were 
trembling, fainting and drawing back, below him. It was 
an occasion that called upon him to put forth all his strength, 
and he did put it forth, in such a manner, as man never did 
before. The cords of argument with which his adversaries 
frequently flattered themselves they had bound him fast, be- 
came packthreads in his hands. He burst them with as much 
ease, as the unshorn Sampson did the bands of the Philistines. 
He seized the pillars of the temple, shook them terribly, and 
seemed to threaten his opponents with ruin. It was an inces- 
sant storm of lightning and thunder, which struck them 
aghast. The faint-hearted gathered courage from his coun- 
tenance, and cowards became heroes, while they gazed upon 
his exploits. 

<* It was in the midst of this magnificent debate, while he 
was descanting on the tyranny of the obnoxious act, that he 
exclaimed, in a voice of thunder, and with the look of a God, 
Csesar had his Brutus — Charles the first, his Cromwell — and 
George the third — ('Treason/ cried the speaker — ' treason, 
treason,' echoed from every part of the house. It was one of 
those trying moments which is decisive of character. Henry 
faltered not for an instant; but rising to a loftier attitude, and 
fixing on the speaker an eye of the most determined fire, he 
finished his sentence with the firmest emphasis) may profit by 
their examjrte. If this be treason, make the most of it." 

In August, 1774, the Virginia convention assembled in Wil- 
liamsburg, and passed a scries of resolutions, whereby they 
pledged themselves to make common cause with the people of 
Boston in every extremity. They appointed as deputies to 
Congress, on the part of that colony, Peyton Randolph, Rich- 
ard H. Lee, George Washington, Richard Bland, Patrick 
Henry, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, who 
were deputed to attend the first meeting of the colonial con- 
gress. 

On the 4th September, 1774, that venerable body, the old 
continental congress of the United States, (towards whom 
every American heart will bow r with pious homage, while the 

30 



224 HENRY. 

name of liberty shall be dear in our land) met for the fir.*t' 
time at Carpenter's Hall in the city of Philadelphia. Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, was chosen president, and the house- 
was organized for business, with all the solemnities of a regu- 
lar legislature. 

The most eminent men of the various colonies were now> 
for the first time, brought together. They were known to 
each other by fame; but they were personally strangers. The- 
meeting was awfully solemn. The object which had called 
them together was of incalculable magnitude. The li- 
berties of no less than three millions of people, with that of 
all their posterity, were staked on the wisdom and energy of 
their councils. No wonder, then, at the long and deep si- 
lence which is said to have followed upon their organization; 
at the anxiety with which the members looked around upon each 
other; and the reluctance which every individual felt to open 
a business so fearfully momentous. In the midst of this deep 
and death-like silence, and just when it was beginning to be- 
come painfully embarrassing, Mr. Henry arose slowly, as if 
borne down by the weight of the subject. After faltering, ac- 
cording to his habit, through a most impressive exordium, in 
which he merely echoed back the consciousness of every other 
heart, in deploring his inability to do justice to the occasion, 
he launched, gradually, into a recital of the colonial wrongs. 
Rising, as he advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and 
glowing at length with all the majesty and expectation of the 
occasion, his speech seemed more than that of mortal man. — 
Even those who had heard him in all his glory, in the house 
of burgesses of Virginia, were astonished at the manner in 
which his talents seemed to swell and expand themselves, to 
fill the vast theatre in which he was now placed. There was 
no rant; no rhapsody ; no labour of the understanding ; 119 
straining of the voice ; no confusion of the utterance. His 
countenance was erect; his eye steady: his action noble; his 
enunciation clear and firm; his mind poised on its centre; his 
views of his subject comprehensive and great; and his ima- 
gination, confiscating with a magnificence and a variety, 
which struck even that assembly with amazement and awe. 
He sat down amidst murmurs of astonishment and applause, 
and as he had been before proclaimed the greatest orator of 
Virginia, he was now on every hand, admitted to be the first 
orator of America. 

When Mr. Henry returned from this first congress to his 
constituents, he was asked 'whom he thought the greatest man 
in congress,' and replied, ' if you speak of eloquence, Mr. 
Rutledge of South Carolina, is by far the greatest orator; but 
if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, cole- 



HENRY. 235 

jiel Washington, is unquestionably, the greatest man on that 
floor.' 

In March, 1775, Mr. Henry was a member of the conven- 
tion of delegates from the several counties and corporations 
of Virginia, assembled in Richmond. In this body, while all 
the other leading members were still disposed to pursue only 
milk-and-water measures, he proposed resolutions for embo- 
dying, arming and disciplining, such number of men, as 
should be sufficient to defend the colony against the aggres- 
sions of the mother country. The resolutions were opposed 
as not only rash in policy, but as harsh and well nigh impious 
in point of feeling. Some of the warmest patriots of the con- 
vention opposed them. Bland, Harrison, Pendleton, &c. re- 
sisted them with all their influence and abilities. An ordi- 
nary man, in Mr. Henry's situation, would have been glad to 
compound with the displeasure of the house, by being permit- 
ted to withdraw his resolutions in silence. 

"Not so, Mr. Henry. His was a spirit fitted to raise the 
whirlwind, as well as to ride in, and direct it. His was that 
comprehensive view, that unerring prescience, that perfect 
command over the actions of men, which qualified him not 
merely to guide, but almost to create the destinies of nations. 

"He rose at this time with a majesty unusual to him in an 
exordium, and with all that self-possession by which he was so 
invariably distinguished. ' No man,' he said, ' thought more 
highly than he did of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of 
the very worthy gentlemen who had just addressed the house. 
But different men often saw the same subject in different 
lights: and, therefore, he hoped it would not be thought dis- 
respectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as he did, opi- 
nions of a character very opposite to theirs, he should speak 
forth his sentiments freely, and without reserve. This, he 
said, was no time for ceremony. The question before the 
house was one of awful moment to this country. For his own 
part, he considered it as nothing less than a question of free- 
dom or slavery. And in proportion to the magnitude of the 
subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It was only 
in this way that they could hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil 
the great responsibility which they held to God and their coun- 
try. Should he keep back his opinions at such a time, through 
fear of giving offence, he should consider himself as guilty of 
treason towards his country, and of an act of disloyalty to- 
wards the majesty of Heaven, which he revered above all 
earthly kings. 

"Mr. President," said he, "it is natural to man to indulge 
in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against 
a painful truth; and listen to the song of that syren, till she 



236 HENRI. 

transforms us into beasts. Is this," lie asked, Si the part oi 
wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? 
Were we disposed to be of the number of those, who having 
eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so 
nearly concern their temporal salvation? For his part, what- 
ever anguish of spirit it might cost, he was willing to know 
the whole truth; to know the worst; and to provide for it. 

" He had," he said, "but one lamp by which his feet were 
guided ; and that was the lamp of experience. He knew of 
no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judg- 
ing by the past, he wished to know what Inhere had been in 
the conduct of the British ministry, for the last ten years, to 
justify those hopes with which gentlemen had been pleased to 
solace themselves and the house ? Is it that insidious smile 
with which our petition has been lately received ? Trust it 
not, sir ; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not your- 
selves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this 
gracious reception of our petition comports with those war- 
like preparations which cover our waters and darken our 
land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and 
reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be 
reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? 
Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements 
of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings 
resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, 
if its purpose be not to force us to submission ? Can gentle- 
men assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Bri- 
tain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for all 
this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has 
none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. 
They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains, 
which the British ministry have been so long forging. And 
what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? — 
Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have 
we any thing new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We 
have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable ; 
but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and 
humble supplication? What terms shall we find, which have 
not been already exhausted ? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, de- 
ceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done every thing that 
could be done, to avert the storm that is coming on. We have 
petitioned ; we have remonstrated ; we have supplicated ; we 
have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored 
its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry 
and parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our re- 
monstrances have produced additional violence and insult; 
our supplications have been disregarded : and we have been 



HENRY. £37 

spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, 
after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and 
reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we 
wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inesti- 
mable privileges for which we have been so long contending ; 
if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which 
we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged 
ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our con- 
test shall be obtained; we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we 
must fight!! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is 
all that is left us! 

"They tell us, sir," continued Mr. Henry, "that we are 
weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But 
when shall we be stronger ? Will it be the next week or the 
next year ? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and 
Avhen a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall 
we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we 
acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on 
our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, un- 
til our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot ? Sir, we 
are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which 
the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of 
people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country 
as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which 
our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight 
our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the 
destinies of nations : and who will raise up friends to fight our 
battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone : it 
is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have 
no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too 
late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in 
submission and slavery ! Our chains are forged ! Their 
clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is 
inevitable ; and let it come ! ! I repeat it, sir, let it come ! ! ! 

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen 
may cry peace, peace ; but there is no peace. The war is ac- 
tually begun ! The next gale that sweeps from thenoth, will 
bring to our cars the clash of resounding arms ! Our brethren 
are already in the field ! Why stand we here idle ? What is 
it that gentlemen wish ? What would they have ? Is life so 
dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of 
chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God ! ! I know not 
what course others may take ; but as for me," cried he, with 
both his. arms extended aloft, his brows knit, every feature 
marked with the resolute purpose of his soul, and his voice 
swelled to its boldest note of exclamation, "give me liberty, 
or give me death !" 



238 HENRY. 

"He took his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. 
The effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several 
members started from their seats. The cry, "to arms," seem- 
ed to quiver on every lip, and gleam from every eye ! Rich- 
ard Henry Lee arose and supported Mr. Henry, with his usual 
spirit and elegance. But his melody was lost amidst the 
agitations of that ocean, which the master spirit of the storm 
had lifted up on high. That supernatural voice still sounded 
in their ears and shivered along their arteries. They heard in 
every pause the cry of liberty or death. They became impa- 
tient of speech ', their souls were on fire for action." 

The resolutions were adopted, and Patrick Henry, Richard 
Henry Lee. Robert C. Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel 
Riddick, George Washington, Adam Stevens, Andrew Lewis, 
William Christman, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jefferson, 
and Isaac Zane, Esquires, were appointed a committee to pre- 
pare the plan called for by the resolutions. 

In April, 1775, after lord Dunmorehad conveyed on board 
a ship, a part of the powder from the magazine of Williams- 
burg, Mr. Henry distinguished himself by assembling the in- 
dependent companies of Hanover and King William counties, 
and directing them towards Williamsburg, with the avowed 
design of obtaining payment for the powder, or of compelling 
its restitution. The object was effected, for the king's receiv- 
er general gave a bill for the value of the property. The go- 
vernor immediately fortified his palace, and issued a pro- 
clamation, charging those who had procured the bill with re- 
bellious practices. This only occasioned a number of county 
meetings, which applauded the conduct of Mr. Henry, and 
expressed a determination to protect him. In August, 1775, 
when anew choice of deputies to congress was made, he was 
not re-elected, for his services were now demanded more ex- 
clusively in his own state. After the departure of lord Dun- 
more, he was chosen the first governor in June, 1776, and he 
held this office several succeeding years, bending all his ex- 
ertions to promote the freedom and independence of his coun- 
try. 

In June, 1777, and again in 1778, he was unanimously re- 
elected governor; but he declined the honour. In 1780, we 
find him again in the assembly, and one of the most active 
members of the house. 

In 1788, lie was a member of the convention of the state of 
Virginia, which was appointed to consider the constitution of 
the United States; and he exerted all the force of his masterly 
eloquence, day after day, to prevent its adoption. He con- 
tended that changes were dangerous to liberty; that the old 
confederation had carried us through the war, and secured our 



HENRY. 239 

independence, and needed only amendment; that the proposed 
was a consolidated government, in which the sovereignty of 
the states would be lost, and all pretensions to rights and pri- 
vileges would be rendered insecure. He offered a resolution, 
containing a bill of rights and amendments, which, however, 
was not accepted. 

" The convention had been attended from its commencement 
by a vast concourse of citizens, of all ages and conditions. — 
The interest so universally felt in the question itself, and not 
less the transcend ant talents which were engaged in its dis- 
cussion, presented such attractions as could not be resisted. 

** Towards the close of the session, an incident occurred of 
a character so extraordinary as to deserve particular notice. 
The question of adoption or rejection was now approaching. 
The decision was still uncertain, and every mind and every 
heart was filled with anxiety. Mr. Henry partook most deeply 
of this feeling; and while engaged, as it were, in his last ef- 
fort, availed himself of the strong sensation which he knew to 
pervade the house, and made an appeal to it which, in point of 
sublimity, has never been surpassed in any age or country in. 
the world. After describing, in accents which spoke to the 
soul, and to which every other bosom deeply responded, the 
awful immensity of the question, to the present and future ge- 
nerations, and the throbbing apprehensions with which he 
looked to the issue, he passed from the house and from the 
earth, and looking, as he said, 'beyond that horizon which 
binds mortal eyes,' he pointed, with a countenance and action 
that made the blood run back upon the aching heart, to those 
celestial beings, who were hovering over the scene, and wait- 
ing with anxiety for a decision which involved the happiness 
or misery of more than half the human race. To those beings; 
with the same thrilling look and action; he had just address- 
ed an invocation, that made every nerve shudder with super- 
natural horror; when, lo! a storm at that instant arose, which 
shook the whole building, and the spirits whom he had called, 
seemed to have come at his bidding! Nor did his eloquence, 
or the storm immediately cease; but availing himself of the 
incident, with a master's art, he seemed to mix in the fight of 
his ajthereal auxiliaries, and 'rising on the wings of the tem- 
pest, to seize upon the artillery of heaven, and direct its 
fiercest thunders against the heads of his adversaries.' The 
scene became insupportable; and the house rose, without the 
formality of adjournment, the members rushing from their 
seats, with precipitation and confusion." 

The constitution was adopted by a small majority. Mr. 
Henry's bill of rights, and his amendments, were then ac- 
cepted, and directed to be transmitted to the several states.— 



240 HENRY. 

Some of these amendments have been ingrafted into the fede- 
ral constitution. 

"The case of John Hook is worthy of insertion. Hook was 
a Scotchman, a man of wealth, and suspected of being un- 
friendly to the American cause. During the distresses of the 
American army, consequent on the joint invasion of Corn- 
wallis and Phillips in 1781, a Mr Venable, an army commis- 
sary, had taken two of Hook's steers for the use of the troops. 
The act had not been strictly legal ; and on the establishment 
of peace, Hook, under the advice of Mr Cowan, a gentleman 
of some distinction in the law, thought proper to bring an ac- 
tion of trespass against Mr Venable, in the district court of 
New London. Henry appeared for the defendant, and is said to 
have disported himself in this cause to the infinite enjoyment 
of his hearers, the unfortunate Hook always excepted. After 
Mr Henry became animated in the cause, he appeared to have 
complete controul over the passions of his audience : at one 
time he excited their indignation against Hook : vengeance 
was visible in every countenance: again, when he chose to re- 
lax and ridicule him, the whole audience was in a roar of 
laughter. He painted the distresses of the American army, 
exposed almost naked to the rigour of a winter's sky, and 
marking the frozen ground over which they marched, with 
the blood of their unshod feet ; where was the man, he said, 
who has an American heart in his bosom, who would not have 
thrown open his fields, his barns, his cellars, the doors of his 
house, the portals of his breast, to have received with open 
arms, the meanest soldier in that little band of famished pa- 
triots ? Where is the man ? There he stands ; but whether the 
heart of an American beats in his bosom, you gentlemen, are 
to judge. He then carried the jury, by the powers of his ima- 
gination, to the plains around York, the surrender of which 
had followed shortly after the act complained of : he depicted 
Ihe surrender in the most glowing and noble colours of his 
eloquence. The audience saw before their eyes the humilia- 
tion and dejection of the British, as they marched out of their 
trenches : they saw the triumph which lighted up every patri- 
otic face, and the shouts of victory, and the cry of Washing- 
ton and liberty, as it rung and echoed through the American 
ranks, and was reverberated from the hills and shores of the 
neighbouring river : but, hark ! what notes of discord are 
these which disturb the general joy, and silence the acclama- 
tions of victory: they are the notes of John Hook, hoarsely 
bawling through the American camp, beef.' beef! beef/ 

The whole audience were convulsed: a particular incident 
will give a better idea of the effect, than any general descrip- 
tion. The clerk of the court, unable to command himself. 



HENRY. 241 

and unwilling to commit any breach of decorum in his place, 
rushed out of the courthouse, and threw himself on the grass, 
in the most violent paroxysm of laughter, where he was roll- 
ing, when Hook, with very different feelings, came out for re- 
lief, into the yard also. The cause was decided almost by 
acclamation. The jury retired for form sake, and instantly 
returned with a verdict for the defendant. Nor did the effect 
of Mr. Henry's speech stop here. The people were so highly 
excited by the tory audacity of such a suit, that Hook began 
to hear around him a cry more terrible than that of beef: it 
was the cry of tar and feathers: from the application of which, 
it is said, that nothing saved him but a precipitate flight and 
the speed of his horse." 

In the two remaining years he continued a member of the 
assembly. In the spring of 1791, he declined a re-election, 
with the purpose of bidding a final adieu to public life. In 
August, 1795, he was nominated by president Washington, as 
secretary of state, but considerations of a private nature in- 
duced him to decline the honorable trust. In November, 1796, 
he was again elected governor of Virginia, and this office al- 
so he almost immediately resigned. In the year 1799, he was 
appointed by president Adams, as an envoy to France, with 
Messrs. Ellsworth and Murray; this he also declined in con- 
sequence of a severe indisposition, to which he was then sub- 
ject, and of his advanced age and increasing debility. Gov- 
ernor Davie, of North Carolina, was appointed in his place. 
He lived but a short time after this testimony of the respect 
in which his talents and patriotism were held. 

The disease which had been preying upon him for two years, 
now hastened to its crisis. He died on the 6th of June, 1799, 
in the 62d year of his age. 

"Thus lived, and thus died, the celebrated Patrick Henry, 
of Virginia; a man who justly deserves to be ranked among 
the highest ornaments, and the noblest benefactors of his coun- 
try. In his habits of living, he was remarkably temperate 
and frugal. He seldom drank any thing but water. His mo- 
rals were strict. As a husband, a father, a master, he had 
no superior. He was kind and hospitable to the stranger, 
and most friendly and accommodating to his neighbors." 

The following affectionate tribute to the memory of Henry, 
appeared in the Virginia papers, im mediately after his death: 

"Mourn, Virginia, mourn; your Henry is gone. Ye friends 
to liberty in every clime, drop a tear. No more will his so- 
cial feelings spread delight through his happy house. No more 
will his edifying example dictate to his numerous offspring the 
sweetness of virtue, and the majesty of patriotism. No more 
will his sage advice, guided by zeal for the common happi- 

31 



«3 HESTON. 

ness, impart light and utility to his caressing neighbours. No 
more will he illuminate the public councils with sentiments 
drawn from the cabinet of his own mind, ever directed to his 
country's good, and clothed in eloquence sublime, delightful, 
and commanding. Farewell, first-rate patriot, farewell. As 
long as our rivers flow, or mountains stand, so long will your 
excellence and worth be the theme of our bomage and endear- 
ment; and Virginia, bearing in mind her loss, will say to ris- 
ing generations, imitate my Henry." 

He left in his will the following testimony in favour of the 
Christian religion: 

ii I have now disposed of all my property to my family ; 
there is one thing more I wish I could give thorn, and that is 
the Christian religion. If they had this, and I had not given 
them one shilling, they would be rich ; and if they had not 
tfcat, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor." 

HESTON, Edward, was a brave officer in the revolution- 
ary army. At the commencement of the war. he volunteered 
his services, and received a captain's commission. About the 
close of the contest, he rose to lieutenant colonel. He con- 
tinued actively engaged through all the perils of that trying 
coflict. He it was to whom general Potter, with perhaps his 
whole brigade, (then lying near the gulph) owed their liberty, 
if not their lives. When Cornwallis left his quarters in Phi- 
ladelphia, intending to take general Potter by surprise, he 
marched at the head of five thousand men, crossing the river 
Schuylkill during the latter part of the night. Colonel Hes- 
ton being on the alert, had lodged that night a short distance 
from home; about day-break, the enemy was discovered ap- 
proaching near his farm, through which they had to pass by a 
man whom he had stationed therefor that purpose; they ad- 
vanced, and took the colonel's horse with them. He immedi- 
ately conveyed him the intelligence. The colonel then fled on 
foot to one of his neighbours, borrowed a horse, and rode by 
a circuitous route with all possible speed, until begot ahead of 
them. He soon arrived in Potter's camp, and found them 
just going to breakfast. At the request of general Potter, 
who was then in his marque, he ran through and aroused the 
whole camp to arms, and then went to meet general Washing- 
ton, who, with his army, he met crossing Schuylkill, at a 
bridge which had just been completed for the purpose. In con- 
sequence of the intelligence he brought, the Americans moved 
their quarters, and the British had the mortification to miss 
their anticipated conquest. 

The next spring, the day previous to the battle of German - 
town, he was one among others, who, in consummation of a 
[Ian laid down by Washington, to cut off the enemy's retreat 



HE5T0N. o 43 

iVom Philadelphia, went to the middle ferry and assisted in 
cutting away the rope which then extended across the river, 
notwithstanding there was a continual fire kept up by the ene- 
my on the opposite bank. 

It was his misfortune at one time while reconnoitering the 
enemy's movements, to be taken prisoner by a troop of British 
horse, one of whom made a desperate blow with his sword, 
designing to take off his head : but striking higher than he in- 
tended, struck the back part of his head, which occasioned 
the sword to glance, the mark of which deadly weapon went 
with him to his grave. He surrendered, and was afterwards 
sent to Long Island, where he was detained for seven months 
as a prisoner of war. 

After the peace took place, he was elected to the state legis- 
lature, then sitting in Philadelphia : he served in that capaci- 
ty for some time. He then returned to his farm, on which he 
remained a few years ; after which he received the appoint- 
ment of Judge of the court of Common Pleas for the city and 
County of Philadelphia. He attended to the duties of that of- 
fice for the term of four years, at the end of which his fellow 
citizens elected him to the office of senator; in the fulfilment 
of the duties of which office he spent eight successive winters. 
Whether in the field, on the bench, or in the cabinet, dur- 
ing the whole of his services, no man was, perhaps, ever 
more devotedly attached to the cause of his country, and the 
good of mankind. 

For the last twelve or fifteen years of his life, we find him 
actively engaged in the respectable pursuits of the practical 
farmer, enjoying, to their full extent, the three fold blessings 
of health, peace, and competency ; nor did he for a moment 
forget duly to appreciate the value of the blessed boon, which 
in early life had cost so much blood and treasure to establish. 
He used every effort of which his nature was capable, to trans- 
mit it inviolate to posterity ; and he was often heard to say that 
he should be happy to know every human being as comforta- 
bly situated as himself. Feeling and humane to all parts of 
animated nature ; benevolent and liberal to the poor and af- 
flicted ; whenever merit made intercession, his spirit, not only 
of patriotism but that of philanthrophy, was coeval with his 
existence- 
He died on the 14th day of March, 1824, after a short ill- 
ness, at his residence in Hcstonville, in the county of Phila- 
delphia, aged 79 years : during about sixty of which time he 
occupied the above patrimonial estate. 

While he was in the legislature, he took a very active part 
in abolishing slavery from his native state, and he considered 
it one of the most meritorious acts of his life. His ardent de- 



244 HOLDEN*- HOPKINSON. 

sire had invariably been for the final emancipation of all who 
are kept in bondage, not only in his own beloved country, but 
throughout the world. 

HOLDEN, Levi, was a brave officer in the revolutiona- 
ry war with Great Britain. In 1776, he entered the army, 
and continued in it without intermission, until the peace of 
1783. During three years of this period, he was an officer in 
general Washington's life guard, and lived in his family. 
Captain Holden saw and experienced as much hard service, 
as any officer of his rank in the army. He enjoyed, in a pe- 
culiar manner, the confidence of the commander in chief. He 
died at Newark, New Jersey, on the 19th of April, 1823, in 
the 70th year of his age. For more than thirty years he re- 
sided in Newark, and always sustained the character of a 
worthy citizen. 

HOPKINSON. Francis, Judge of the court of Admiral- 
ty, in Pennsylvania, was born in Pennsylvania, in the year 
1738. He possessed an uncommon share of genius, of a pe- 
culiar kind. He excelled in music and poetry; and had some 
knowledge in painting. But these arts did not monopolise 
all the powers of his mind. He was well skilled in many 
practical and useful sciences, particularly in mathematics and 
natural philosophy; and he had a general acquaintance with 
the principles of anatomy, chemistry and natural history. — 
But his forte was humour and satire, in both of which, he 
was not surpassed by Lucian, Swift, or Rabelias. These ex- 
traordinary powers were consecrated to the advancement of 
the interests of patriotism, virtue and science. It would fill 
many pages to mention his numerous publications during the 
revolutionary war. all of which were directed to these im- 
portant objects. He began in the year 1775, with a small 
tract, which he entitled, »<A Pretty Story," in which he ex- 
posed the tyranny of Great Britain, in America, by a most 
beautiful allegory, and he concluded his contributions to his 
country in this way, with the history of "The new roof," a 
performance, which for wit, humour and good sense, must 
last as long as the citizens of America continue to admire, 
and be happy under the present national government of the 
United States. 

Newspaper scandal frequently, for months together, disap- 
peared or languished, after the publication of several of his 
irresistible satires upon that disgraceful species of writing. 
He gave a currency to a thought or a phrase, in these effu- 
sions from his pen, which never failed to bear down the spirit 
of the times, and frequently to turn the divided tides of party 
rage, into one general channel of ridicule or contempt. 
Sometimes he employed his formidable powers of humour 



HOPKINSON. £45 

and satire in exposing the formalities of technical science.— 
He thought much, and thought justly upon the subject of edu- 
cation. He held several of the arts and sciences, which are 
taught in colleges, in great contempt. His specimen of mo- 
dern learning in a tedious examination, the only object of 
which was to describe the properties of a " Salt Box," pub- 
lished in the American Museum, for February, 1787, will al- 
ways be relished as a morsel of exquisite humour. 

Mr. Hopkinson possessed uncommon talents for pleasing in 
company. His wit was not of that coarse kind, which was 
calculated to set the table in a roar. It was mild and ele- 
gant, and infused cheerfulness and a species of delicate joy, 
rather than mirth, into the hearts of all who heard it. His 
empire over the attention and passions of his company, was 
not purchased at the expense of innocence, A person who 
has passed many delightful hours in his society, declared, 
with pleasure, that he never once heard him use a profane 
expression, nor utter a word, which would have made a lady 
blush, or have clouded her countenance for a moment with a 
look of disapprobation. It is this species of wit alone, that 
indicates a rich and powerful imagination, while that which 
is tinctured with profanity, or indelicacy, argues poverty of 
genius, inasmuch as they have botli been considered very pro- 
perly as the cheapest products of the mind. 

Mr. Hopkinson's character for abilities and patriotism, 
procured him the confidence of his countrymen in the most 
trying exigencies of their affairs. He represented the state 
of New Jersey, in congress, in the year 1776. and subscribed 
the ever memorable declaration of independence. He held an 
appointment in the loan office for several years, and afterwards 
succeeded George Ross, Esquire, as judge of the admiralty 
for the state of Pennsylvania. In this station he continued 
till the year 1790, when he was appointed judge of the dis- 
trict court in Pennsylvania, by the illustrious Washington, 
then president of the United States, and in each of these judi- 
cial offices, he conducted himself with the greatest ability and 
integrity. 

His person was a little below the common size. His features 
were small, but extremely animated. His speech was quick, 
and all his motions seemed to partake of the unceasing acti- 
vity and versatility of the powers of his mind. 

It only remains to add, to this account of Mr. Hopkinson, 
that the various causes which contributed to the establishment 
of the independence of the federal government of the United 
States, will not he fully traced, unless much is ascribed to the 
irresistible influence of the ridicule which he poured forth, 
from time to time, upon the enemies of those great political 
ev ents. 



£46 HOPKINS. 

He was an active and useful member of three great parties 
which at different times divided his native state. He was a 
whig, a republican, and a federalist, and he lived to see the 
principles and the wishes of each of those parties finally and 
universally successful. Although his labours had been re- 
warded with many plentiful harvests of well earned fame, yet 
his death, to his country and his friends, was premature. He 
had been subject to frequent attacks of the gout in his head, 
but for some time before his death, he had enjoyed a consi- 
derable respite from them. On Sunday evening, May 8th, 
1791, he was somewhat indisposed, and passed a restless 
night. He rose on Monday morning, at his usual hour, and 
breakfasted with his family. At seven o'clock, he was seiz- 
ed with an apoplectic fit, which in two hours put a period to 
his existence, in the fifty-third year of his age. 

HOPKINS, Stephen, a distinguished patriot and states- 
man, was a native of that part of Providence, Rhode Island, 
which now forms the town of Scituate. He was born in 
March, 1707. In his youth he disclosed high promise of ta- 
lents, and soon became esteemed for his growing worth, his 
early virtues, and his regular and useful life. At an early 
period lie was appointed a justice of the peace, was employed 
extensively in the business of surveying lands, and was ap- 
pointed to various other offices, some of which were responsi- 
ble and important: and he discharged the duties of all with 
great ability and faithfulness, and with equal advantage to his 
own reputation and the public interest. In 1754, he was ap- 
pointed a member of the board of commissioners, which as- 
sembled at Albany, to digest and concert apian of union for 
the colonies. Shortly after this he was chosen chief justice 
of the superior court of the colony of Rhode Island; and in 
1755, he was elevated to the office of chief magistrate of the co- 
lony, and continued in this dignified and important station 
about eight years, but not in succession. He was, also, for 
several years, chancellor of the College. At the commence- 
ment of the difficulties between the colonics and Great Britain, 
governor Hopkins took an early, active and decided part in 
favour of the former. He wrote a pamphlet in support of the 
rights and claims of the colonies, called " The Rights of the 
Colonies examined ;" which was published by order of the ge- 
neral assembly. He was a member of the immortal congress 
of '76, which declared these states, (then colonies) to be " free, 
sovereign, and independent;" and his signature is attached to 
this sublime and important instrument, which has no example 
in the archives of nations. 

Governor Hopkins was not only distinguished as a states- 
man and patriot, but as a man of business; having been ex- 



HUMPHREY. 247 

tensively engaged in trade and navigation, and also concern- 
ed in manufactures and agriculture. He was a decided advo- 
cate, and a zealous supporter, both of civil and religious li- 
berty ; a firm patriot, a friend to his country, and a patron of 
useful public institutions. He possessed a sound and discri- 
minating mind, and a clear and comprehensive understand- 
ing; was alike distinguished for his public and private vir- 
tues, being an able and faithful public officer, and an emi- 
nently useful private citizen. 

Governor Hopkins finished his long, honourable and useful 
life, on the 20th July, 1785, in the seventy-ninth year of his 
age. 

HUMPHREY, David, was born in Derby, Connecticut, 
in July, 1752. In 1767, he entered Yale college, and receiv- 
ed his first degree in 1771. Whilst in college, he cultivated 
an attachment to the muses, and disclosed early evidences of 
poetical talent. During the revolutionary war, he entered 
the army as a captain; but at what time is not known. 

In 1778, however, he was aid to general Putnam, with the 
rank of major. Two years after this, he was appointed aid 
to the commander in chief; having been the successful candi- 
date of four who solicited the office. His competitors were 
colonel Talmadge, general William Hull, and Roger Alden. 
He continued in this situation during the war, having the rank 
of a colonel, and was particularly distinguished at the memo- 
rable siege of York: and congress, as a respectful testimony 
of their high estimation of his valour, fidelity, and signal ser- 
vices on this occasion, voted him an elegant sword. At the 
close of the war, he accompanied general Washington to Vir- 
ginia. In 1784, he embarked for France, in company with 
the brave but unfortunate Kosciusko; having, on the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Jefferson as ambassador to France, been nomi- 
nated as his secretary. In 1786, he returned to America, and 
revisited the scenes of his youth in his native town. Soon 
after his return, he was elected by his fellow citizens to be 
their representative in the legislature of the state, and conti- 
nued to he elected for two years; when he was appointed to 
the command of a regiment raised for the western service.— 
During the period that he held this office, he remained most 
of tlie time in Hartford ; and, with Hopkins, Barlow and 
Trumbull, assisted in the publication of the Anarchiad. On 
the reduction of his regiment, he repaired to Mount Vernon, 
and continued with general Washington until 1790, when he 
received an apointment to the court of Portugal. In 1794, 
he visited America, but soon returned to Lisbon. Soon after 
this, he received an appointment to the court of Spain, where 
he continued until 1802, when he again returned to his native 



248 HUNTINGTON. „ 

country. This was the end of his public life. After his 
return to America, he was, until his death, extensively engag- 
ed in various objects of public utility, particularly manufac- 
tures and agriculture. He is well known to have been one of 
the first who introduced merino sheep into this country, which 
has greatly improved the quality of wool, and given a strong 
impetus to domestic manufactures. He established an exten- 
sive woolen and cotton factory in his native town, which gave 
employment to a number of persons. He also did much for 
the promotion of agriculture, and just previously to his death 
was making exertions to form a society, for the purpose of 
procuring a farm for agricultural experiments. 

General Humphrey possessed considerable literary ac- 
quirements, although lie published no work of magnitude; his 
writings consist principally of various poetical productions. 
Of these, the most important are, an address to the armies of 
the United States; a poem on the happiness of America; a 
poem on the future glory of the United States ; a poem on the 
industry of the United States; a poem on the love of country; 
and a poem on the death of Washington. He wrote also a 
memoir of general Putnam, various political tracts, &c. 

He died in New-Haven, 21st February, 1818, aged sixty- 
six years. 

HUNTINGTON, Samuel, governor of Connecticut, was 
born in Windham, in 1732, and descended from an ancient 
family. In his youth he gave indications of an excellent un- 
derstanding. Without the advantages of a collegial educa- 
tion he acquired a competent knowledge of the law, and was 
early admitted to the bar; soon after which he settled in 
Norwich, and in a few years became eminent in his profes- 
sion. 

"In 1764, Mr. Huntington commenced his political labours as 
a representative of the town of Norwich in the general assem- 
bly; and in the following year received the office of king's at- 
torney, which he sustained with reputation, until more impor- 
tant services induced him to relinquish it. In 1774, he was 
appointed an associate judge in the superior court, and in the 
following year, a member of the council of Connecticut. 

" Being derided in his opposition to the claims and oppres- 
sions of the British parliament, and active in his exertions in 
favour of the colonies, the general assembly of Connecticut, 
properly appreciating his talents and patriotism, appointed 
him a delegate to congress, on the second Tuesday of Octo- 
ber, 1775, in conjunction with Roger Sherman, Oliver Wol- 
cott, Titus Hosmer, and William Williams, Esquires. On 
the 16th of January, 1776, he took his seat in that venerable 
assembly, and in the subsequent month of July, affixed his 



HUNTINGTON. 249 

signature to an instrument which has excited the admiration 
of all contemporary nations, and will continue to he cherish- 
ed and maintained so long as free principles and free institu- 
tions are permitted to exist. In this high station, he devoted 
his talents and time to the puhlic service, during several suc- 
cessive years. His stern integrity, and inflexible patriotism, 
rendered him a prominent member, and attracted a large share 
of the current business of the house; as a member of numerous 
important committees, he acted with judgment and delibera- 
tion, and cheerfully and perseveringly dedicated his moments 
of leisure to the general benefit of the country. He zealously 
performed the duties of this office during the years 1776, 1777, 
1778, 1779, and 1780; when he returned to Connecticut, and 
resumed his station upon the bench, and seat in the council ; 
which had been continued vacant until his return. 

u The estimation in which Mr. Huntington was held by his 
fellow members, may be properly appreciated from his ap- 
pointment, on the 28th of September, 1779, to the highest 
civil dignity of the country. On the resignation of the honor- 
able John Jay, who had been appointed minister plenipoten- 
tiary to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce, and of al- 
liance, between the United States of America, and his Catho- 
lic majesty, Mr. Huntington was elected president of con- 
gress: in 1780, he was re-elected to the same honorable of* 
iice, which he continued to fill, with dignity and impartiality, 
until the following year, when, worn out by the constant 
cares of public life, and his unremitting application to his of- 
ficial duties, he desired leave of absence, and intimated to the 
house the necessity of his returning home for the re-establish- 
ment of his health. The nomination of his successor was, 
however, postponed by congress, which appeared unwilling 
to dispense with the services of a president, whose practical 
worth had been so long and amply displayed. After the ex- 
piration of two months, Mr. Huntington, on the sixth of Ju- 
ly, 1781, more explicitly declared that his ill state of health 
would not permit him to continue longer in the exercise of the 
duties of that office, and renewed his application for leave of 
absence. His resignation was then accepted, and Samuel 
Johnson, Esq. of North Carolina, declining the appointment, 
the honorable Thomas M'Kean was elevated to the presiden- 
cy. A few days after his retirement, the thanks of congress 
were presented to Mr. Huntington, "'in testimony of their ap- 
probation of his conduct in the chair, and in the execution of 
public business." 

" After having thus pursued his congressional career with 
distinguished success, rising by the energy of his own mind, 
and the perseverance of self-instruction, from the plough to 



230 HUNTINGTON. 

the presidency, Mr. Huntington, in August, 1781, resumed 
his judicial functions in the superior court of Connecticut, and 
his station in the council of that state. His rapid exaltation 
had not proved prejudicial to his mind or manners, hut he re- 
turned to his constituents in the same plain and unassuming 
character, which had first attracted their confidence and ad- 
miration. 

"In May, 1782, he was again elected a delegate to congress, 
but it docs not appear that he joined his colleagues in that 
body during the year for which he was then appointed. The 
injury which his health had previously sustained, and his du- 
ties as a judge, and a counsellor, probably prevented him from 
becoming an active member of the delegation. But his de- 
sire to engage in scenes of more general usefulness, overcame 
these objections at the ensuing election: having been re- ap- 
pointed in 1783, he resumed his seat in congress in the follow- 
ing July. He continued, without intermission, to perform his 
duties in congress until its adjournment to Annapolis, on the 
4th of November, 1783, when he finally retired from the great 
council of the nation, of which he had so long been an influ- 
ential member. 

"In 1784. soon after his return from Congress, he vvas ap- 
pointed chief justice of the superior court of Connecticut, and 
after discharging the duties of that oftice for one year, was 
elected lieutenant governor of the state. Having at all times 
a perfect command over his passions, he presided on the bench 
with great ability, and impartiality: no judge in Connecticut 
was more dignified in his deportment, more courteous and po- 
lite to the gentlemen of the bar, nor more respected by the 
particular parties interested in the proceedings of the court, 
as well as the public in general. His name and his virtues 
are frequently mentioned by those who remember him in his 
judicial capacity, with respect and veneration. 

"In 1786, he succeeded governor Griswold, as chief magi- 
strate of the state, and continued to be annually re-elected, 
with singular unanimity, until his death. 

"This excellent man and undeviating patriot, died in Nor- 
wich, on the fifth day of January, 1796. in the sixty -fourth 
year of his age. Although afflicted with a complication of 
disorders, particularly the dropsy in the chest, his death was 
tranquil and exemplary, and previous to the singular debility 
both of mind and body under which he laboured a few days 
before that event, his religious confidence continued firm and 
unwavering. In his person, Mr. Huntington was of the* com- 
mon stature. ; his complexion dark, and his eye bright and pen- 
etrating ; his manners where somewhat formal, and he | - 
sessed a peculiar faculty of repressing impertinence, repelling 



HUNTINGTON. £51 

unpleasant advances, and keeping aloof from the criticising 
observations of the multitude. But in the social circle of 
relatives and friends, he was a pleasing and entertaining com- 
panion. 

Few men. possessing all the faculties of education, have 
attained a greater share of civil honours than the self-taught 
Huntington. He v as a man of profound thought and penetra- 
tion, of great prudence and practical wisdom, of patient in- 
vestigation and singular perseverance, and of distinguished 
moderation and equanimity ; he was cool and deliberate, mo- 
derate and circumspect in all his actions, and possessed of a 
clear and sound mind. 

His deportment in domestic life was excellent ; his temper 
serene ; and his disposition benevolent. He was the friend of 
order and of religion, a member of the christian church, and 
punctual in the devotions of the family. 

Such was Samuel Huntington, the friend of man ; loaded 
with honours, he attained a good old age. 

In the 4th volume of Sanderson's " Biography of the Sign- 
ers of the Declaration of Independence," a neat and valuable 
work, published in Philadelphia, from which We select the 
greatest portion of the foregoing sketch ; the following just 
remarks precede the sketch : 

" Among the phalanx of patriots which fearlessly and un- 
broken, resisted the menaces and efforts of the British/gov- 
ernment to prevent the declaration of independence, it is remar- 
kable to observe the great proportion that arose from the hum- 
ble walks of life, and by the vigour of their intellect, and un- 
wearied perseverance, compensated the deficiencies of early 
education, and enrolled themselves with honour and capacity, 
among the champions of colonial freedom. When we look 
upon the plough-boy, or the mechanic, self-taught masters in 
the school of policy, elevated to the dignity of legislation, 
which, at that period, was conferred upon talents and inte- 
grity alone ; when we sec them seated among the first ranks 
of that great deliberative body which sealed with solemn 
pledges its devotion to independence ; we are penetrated with 
deep emotions of admiration, not only at the powerful perse- 
verance which rescued them from oblivion, but at the strength 
of mind and stability of purpose, which influenced and incited 
humble individuals to aspire to and attain a rank among the 
fathers and founders of the republic. But it is in times of 
public commotion, when the minds of men are powerfully agi- 
tated in the pursuit of favourite and important objects, that 
talents and genius attain their proper level. In seasons of 
public prosperity, when the vessel of the state pursues its 
course with favourable gales, and no adverse winds impede 



g52 IRVINE. 

its progress, little skill is necessary in the pilot or the crew: 
but when clouds darken the political horizon, and the tempest 
approaches, the helm is willingly abandoned to the master- 
spirits who have skill and resolution to breast the storm." 

HUNTINGTON, Jedediaii, was a native of Norwich, 
Connecticut, and resided a long time in New London. He 
was regularly educated at Harvard college, and in early life, 
engaged in mercantile pursuits; but, at the commencement of 
the revolutionary contest, his active and enterprising mind, 
and ardent attachment to the cause of liberty and his coun- 
try, would not suffer him to remain in the »' dull pursuits of 
civil life," and he entered the army at an early period. In 
1775, lie commanded a regiment. His intelligence, activity, 
bravery, judgment and fidelity as an ofiicer, secured to him ad- 
vancement; the affections of the army; the respect and gratitude, 
of his country; and the attachment and lasting confidence of 
Washington. He continued in the service through the war, 
and attained to the rank of a general ofiicer, After the peace 
of 1783, securing the independence of the colonies, the object 
of his solicitude and of his toils, he retired to his residence in 
his native state, where he was employed in various civil offices, 
until appointed by President Washington collector of the 
public revenue of the port of New-London ; the duties of which 
office he discharged, to the entire satisfaction of the public 
and the government, during a period, embracing four succes- 
sive administrations. 

He died on the 25th of September, 1818, aged 75 years. 

IRVINE, William, the subject of this biographical sketch, 
was a native of the Emerald Isle, which has given to the world 
So many distinguished men, and to which the United States 
have been indebted for so large a portion of their best soldiers 
and most useful citizens. General Irvine's ancestors ori- 
ginally emigrated to Ireland from the north of Scotland. His 
grandfather was an officer in the corps of grenadiers that 
fought so gallantly at the battle of the Boyne. General 
Wayne's grandfather bore a commission in the same service. 
It is a curious coincidence that their descendants should be 
found in the same state and corps, in a new world, contend- 
ing for the same cause. 

Of Mr Irvine's parentage and early life, we know less than 
we could wish, but enough to shew, that both were highly 
respectable. His elementary education commenced at a gram- 
mar school in Eniskellen, (near which he was born) and was 
completed at the college of Dublin. Being now of an age 
when it became proper to select a profession, his own choice 
led strongly to that of arms, and a friend of the family (La- 
dy Cole) went so far as to procure for him a cornctcy of dray 



IRVINE. 253 

goons; but the wiser calculations of his parents overruled this 
arrangement, and instead of placing him in the army, enter- 
ed him a student of medicine and surgery, under the celebrat- 
ed C leghorn; and that the pupil was worthy of the preceptor, 
may be fairly presumed from the fact, that on closing his stu- 
dies, he was immediately appointed surgeon of a British ship 
of war. 

The incident last mentioned, took place during that long 
contest between France and England, which began in 1754, 
and terminated in 1763. It was in the course of several years 
of hard and constant service, that becoming acquainted with 
the condition of society in this country, he took the resolu- 
tion of seeking a professional establishment here, and accord- 
ingly, within a few months after the declaration of peace, ar- 
rived in America. Attracted by the number and character of 
his countrymen, who had located themselves in the interior 
of Pennsylvania, he made his way thither, and in 1764, be- 
came an inhabitant of Carlisle. Nor was he long in this new 
situation, until, by diligence and skill, he was able to recom- 
mend himself to general confidence, in despite of manners ha- 
bitually reserved and even occasionally austere, and which 
utterly excluded the use of those gossiping and parasitical 
means, so often and so scandalously employed in giving birth 
and currency to medical fame. Professional ascendancy, 
resting on foundations so little liable to change, continued una- 
bated till, in 1774, he was called to take part in the political 
controversy which terminated in the independence of the co- 
lonies. 

The few who have survived the times of which we speak, 
and who are yet living, will remember, that this was the most 
critical period of our history ; because that which left it 
doubtful, whether the pending and separate discussions of the 
colonies would eventuate in a union. To effect this object, 
required great prudence, activity and perseverance, and in 
Pennsylvania in particular, these qualities were held in con- 
stant requisition, to overcome the mischievous tendency of 
religious scruples, which disaffected more than one important 
sect of the community; of national prejudices, inseparable 
from a population made up of different nations, habits and 
languages; and, lastly, of proprietary influence, which, operat- 
ing through the multiplied channels of friends and agents, 
addressed itself alike to the hopes and fears of the whole com- 
munity. Yet by the wisdom and energy of a few disinterest- 
ed men, of whom Mr. Irvine was one, Pennsylvania was pi- 
loted through these political straits, and brought safely into 
the union. As a first step in this direction, it was agreed 
that a meeting should be held in Philadelphia, and followed, 



£54 IRVINE. 

in rapid succession, by similar assemblages in the different 
counties of the province. The meeting took place in Phi- 
ladelphia, the 18th day of June, and on the 15th of July, a 
provincial convention came together in that city, who prompt- 
ly recommended the selection and sitting of a general con- 
gress ; denounced the Boston port bill as unconstitutional ; 
expressed their sympathies with the sufferers under it, and 
declared their willingness and determinations to make any 
sacrifice necessary for the support of American rights. 

Of this convention, Mr. Irvine continued to be a diligent 
and influential member, until, in January, 1776, he was ap- 
pointed to raise and command a regiment of the Pennsylva- 
nia line. The activity put into this new service, was highly 
creditable to the commander and his subordinate officers, as 
in less than five months from the date of his instructions, we 
find the regiment raised, clothed, and equipped, and marched 
to the mouth of the river Sorrel, in Canada; and on the 10th 
of June, uniting with Thompson's brigade in the unsuccessful 
attempt made by that corps to surprize the van guard of the 
British army, then stationed at the village of Trois Rivieres. 
In this enterprise, the commanding general and colonel Ir- 
vine, with about two hundred subordinate officers and pri- 
vates, who formed the head of the attack, were made prison- 
ers and carried to Quebec: a misfortune sufficiently great in 
itself, but much aggravated in the present case by the fact, 
that though we had prisoners of commensurate rank ready for 
exchange, yet that from some misunderstanding between the 
two governments, or their agents, no exchange was made un- 
til April, 1778. To compensate colonel Irvine in some de- 
gree, for a mortification so severe and so long continued, he 
at tins last epoch found himself placed at the head of the se- 
cond Pennsylvania brigade, (a corps of great and merited 
distinction) which he continued to command until the fall of 
1781, when he was detached to Pittsburg, and charged with 
the defence of the north-western frontier, then menaced with 
a British and Indian invasion. 

No one could better appreciate the difficulties of this com- 
mand, and the qualities necessary to meet and overcome them, 
than general Washington, with whom this arrangement ori- 
ginated. He well knew, that besides the want of pay and 
clothing, and, not unfrequently, even subsistence itself, which 
was common to every division of the army, the command at 
Pittsburg had many embarrassments peculiar to itself, and of 
a character which rendered the selection of the officer ap- 
pointed to it, a matter of great care and circumspection. We 
need hardly remark, that the circumstance to which we more 
particularly allude, is the well known controversy which 



IRVINE. 255 

then existed between Pennsylvania and Virginia, on the sub- 
ject of boundary; and which seriously, and for a long time, 
embittered many individuals of the two states against each 
other. Nor was this personal and private excitement the worst 
consequences attending it. Public bodies, whatever may have 
been their feelings, could not put into their official acts, that 
violence and indecorum which marked the conduct, and even 
constituted the merit of individuals; who, in their turn, re- 
sented this moderation of their leaders, as a censure on them- 
selves, and were thus led from contemning the authority of a 
neighbouring state, into an open disrespect for that of their 
own. And hence it was, that military expeditions were un- 
dertaken, without authority of any kind; that friendly and 
christianised Indians, were selected as subjects on whom to 
retaliate the injuries received from those who were in a savage 
and hostile state; that the military posts and stores of the na- 
tion were menaced with attack ; and, lastly, that proposi- 
tions for a separation from the union, were openly discussed 
and seriously advocated. It was in this wretched state of 
things, with a regular force wholly incompetent to the exi- 
gencies of the service; with a militia equally destitute of 
knowledge and discipline; with a civil authority utterly de- 
void of power, and a population (with some exceptions) indif- 
ferent, if not disaffected to government, that general Irvine 
entered into the duties assigned to him. His whole conduct 
shewed, that he did not despair of bringing order out of con- 
fusion; for, after repairing and strengthening his forts, and 
increasing his stock of ammunition and subsistence, he sought 
out the two contending factions, and in a short time satisfied 
both of his impartiality, care, economy, disinterestedness and 
devotion to the public good. By thus confirming friends and 
conciliating enemies, his force, moral and physical, was much 
increased, and was probably the cause of turning aside the 
blow meditated against Pittsburg; and which about that time 
fell so dreadfully on another point of the frontier, where simi- 
lar disturbances existed, but where were wanting equal vigi- 
lance and prudence to control. The reader will readily per- 
ceive that in this observation, we refer to Wyoming. 

General Irvine's services on the frontiers were now deemed 
too important to be dispensed with, and he was accordingly 
cpntinued in this command till the peace, when the qualities 
which had recommended him to public confidence were neither 
forgotten or disregarded. Among the provisions made, by 
the state of Pennsylvania, for the better remuneration of the 
army, was the grant of a large tract of land, situate on the 
Western side of the Ohio and Allegheny, and bordering on 
these livers. As, however, few large tracts are uniformly 



;36 IRVINE. 

good, so it was presumed, that a portion of this was either of 
middling or bad quality, and as the whole contained a sur- 
plusage beyond what would be sufficient for the line, the go- 
vernment, in the liberal spirit of the grant, created an agen- 
cy for exploring and characterising the different parts of the 
tract; to the end, that what they did give, should really be 
what the law had intended, a bounty to the receiver, and not 
merely a surface of barren and measured acres. This agen- 
cy, at the instance of the troops, was conferred on general Ir- 
vine, who* notwithstanding the disagreements attending it, 
promptly undertook its execution, and in November, 1785, re- 
ported the result of his mission, and received from the execu- 
tive authority its entire approbation of the course he had pur- 
sued, and the opinions he had given. Amongthe latter of these 
was one, which, though not immediately connected with his 
official duties, was so interesting to the state, as to merit its 
particular notice. We allude to the advice given, of the im- 
portance to Pennsylvania of acquiring by purchase from the 
United States, a small tract of land ceded to them by the state 
of New York, and which, from its shape, took the name of 
the Triangle. The negotiation was opened on the general's 
suggestion, and having been successful, gave to the purchasing 
state a considerable front on Lake Erie, and with it, one or 
more of the best harbors of this inland sea. On closing the 
business of the land agency, general Irvine was elected a 
member of congress under the confederation. 

It was about this date, that the great national account be- 
tween the several states and the United States, which began 
with the war, and which had not hitherto been subjected to any 
official examination assumed a very urgent character from the 
admitted fact, that the contributions made by the several 
members of the confederation, had been unequal; some of these 
having given much, and others, having given little or nothing. 
To relieve the embarrassments growing out of this circum- 
stance, and Which every additional day had a tendency to mul- 
tiply and aggravate. Congress proceeded to institute a board 
of commissioners, with powers to examine and settle this mass 
of old and complicated business. Of this board, general Irvine 
was chosen a member; and (associated with Mr. Kain, of 
South Carolina, and Mr. Oilman, of New Hampshire) ac- 
complished the task in a short time, and. as we understand, to 
the satisfaction of all the parties concerned. 

Nothing could be more general or inveterate, than the pre- 
judice which existed in Pennsylvania, against monarchical 
principles (in government) at the time in which we have 
brought this sketch ; hut however justly founded in the ab- 
stract, it was unfortunately restricted to the executive depart 



IRVINE. 257 

incut, no one imagining that any abuse of power could attach 
to a legislative body, emanating directly and annually, from 
the people. Hence it was, that the Cramers of their fust con- 
stitution (of whom Benjamin Franklin was one) in their an\- 
iet\ to avoid Cbarybdis, ran directly upon Scylla, lor alter 
enfeebling and reducing the executive authority to a shadow, 
they hit tiie legislative branch (composed of one house) pos- 
sessed of all power, and without the smallest check on its 
Aires, follies, or ignorance, excepting what might result from 
a septennial council of censors, whose decisions involved no 
penal consequences to offenders of any description. This ab- 
surd system had. however, many friends, and generated in the 
community a controversy of bad temper and long standing, 
marked, on more than one occasion, with blood. Hut time, 
which is always confirming prejudices, or curing them, was, 
on this occasion, sapping the foundations of error, and would 
perhaps of itself have furnished an antidote for the e\ il. when, 
fortunately, the adoption of the new constitution of the 
United States, came in aid of its operations, and by laying 
down sounder principles of representative government, hast- 
ened the decision of the people of Pennsylvania in favour of 
a change of their own particular constitution. Of the con- 
vention to whom this duty was confided, general Irvine was a 
member, and heartily united in rescuing the slate from the 
reproach, under which she had so long and so deservedly la- 
boured. 

When, in 1796. the whiskey makers and whiskey drinkers 
of the west, broke out into wild and open insurrection, neither 
the feelings of the nation, nor the circumspection of Wash- 
ington, permitted a resort to arms, until after an appeal had 
been made to the understanding and the duties of the offend- 
ers, by persons competent to the task, and not suspected of any 
particular connexion with the policy which had produced the 
excitement. Two sets of commissioners, the one represent- 
ing the United States, the other Pennsylvania, were accord- 
ingly appointed and despatched to the neighborhood of the 
insurgents, with powers to offer an indemnity for the past, 
and security for the future, on condition only of a prompt and 
unqualified return, on their part, to all the duties of obedience. 
Of the state commissioners, general Irvine was one. recom- 
mended alike by the firmness and probity of his character, and 
the high standing he was supposed to have in the confidence 
of the western district. Nor was this personal standing over- 
rated: but the feverish temperament of ;>. mo!) will generally 
run its career: the moment for cool deliberation had not yet 
arrived: the character and the motives of the mission were 
both mistake u. and the overtures of the two governments 



258 IRVINE. 

(equally wise and benevolent) were openly and contemptuous 
ly rejected. When the report of tliis failure reached tin w at 
of government, measures of force wen vigorously, though re- 
luctantly, adopted, and general Irvine was placed at the head 
of the Pennsylvania militia, and by his local knowledge con- 
tributed much to the facility of the march and the other mili- 
tary operations. 

His advanced age, and the better accommodation of his fa 
tnily, induced the general about this time to remove from Car- 
lisle to Philadelphia; and that be might not, in (his new si- 
tuation, be altogether without occupation, he accepted the ap- 
pointment of Intendant of military stores, u place, at that pe- 
riod, of very limited objects, but which subsequent!} became 
the* basin of that important department, so abl} filled by his 
son and successor. Mr. Callender Irxine. He served also as 
president of the Pennsylvania society of the Cincinnati: and 
it was in the discharge of some of the duties growing out of 
that or both of these appointments, that, in the summer of 
1804, he was attacked by an inflammatory disorder, which ter- 
minated his useful life, in the 63d year of his age. 

From this brief and hasty sketch of general Irvine's public 
services and appointments, the reader wiil conclude, as we do, 
that be was a zealous patriot, a judicious statesman, an able 
military commander, and, in a word, a careful and intelligent 
and conscientious executor of all public trusts confided to his 
management. Nor were his domestic habits less worthy of 
imitation: a kind, attentive husband, an affectionate parent, 
an indulgent master, a faithful friend, and a liberal enemy: 
his private life furnished a constant and happj illustration of 
the maxim, that "an honest man is the noblest w ork of God." 

IRVINE, Andrew, the subject of this notice, v. as a native. 
of Ireland, and brother of general William Irvine. There 
were three brothers in the American army, during the revo- 
lutionary war, William, Andrew, and Dr. Mathew Irvine, of 
Charleston, South Carolina, who is still li\ing. Andrew en- 
tered the army at an early period of the war. as a lieutenant 
in his brother's regiment. He marched with that regiment 
to Canada, and was engaged in the various operations in that 
province, in the division under the command of general 
Wayne. Continuing with this command, he participated in 
the several actions which took place prior to the massacre at 
the Paoli. On that occasion, he received seventeen bayonet 
wounds. After his recovery, he joined his regiment and as 
i'.i constant service in the northern campaigns, and when 'be 
Pennsylvania line was ordered to the south, he acror panied 
those troops. There were few officers in our army, that saw 
more active service, or who acquitted themselves more gal- 
luntlv than captain Irxine. 



IRWIN— JACKSON. 259 

After the war, he retired into private life, and died at Car- 
lisle, in Pennsylvania, on the4thof May, 1789. 

IRWIN, Juied. was born in Mecklinburg county, North 
Carolina. He migrated to Georgia, at about seven years of 
age, and was for many years on the Indian frontier, and dur- 
ing the latter part of the revolutionary war. actively employ- 
ed in a skirmishing warfare against the tones and Indians, in 
which situation he was, by his neighbours and compatriots, 
looked up as to their guide and support. At the close of the 
war, he was chosen a delegate to the Georgia legislature, the 
first that ever convened under our present form of go\ cement, 
which met in Savannah, in 1784, and from that time till his 
decease, was always in some high public station. 

He died at Union, Washington county, Georgia, on the 1st 
of March, 1818, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. In the 
death of this gentleman. Georgia has lost an old and faithful 
servant: he was frequently chosen governor of the state, and 
except when in the executive chair, was generally a member of 
the senate, and for many veal's president of that body. 

JACKSON, James, was born at Moreton Ilampstead, in 
the county of Devon, in England, on the i 2 1st day of Septem- 
ber, 1757. We are not in possession of any materials which 
explain the motives of his determination to leave his native 
country. We only know, that he migrated to the state of 
Georgia, in the year 1772, and was placed under the protec- 
tion of John Wereat, Esquire, an old and intimate friend of 
his father. 

At this early age we are authorised to suppose, that young 
Jackson's mind had received impressions unfavourable to the 
political institutions of his own country. In these impres- 
sions he was no doubt encouraged by his worthy father, whose 
opinions and principles, it is said, were always on the side of 
freedom and the rights of man. 

This gentleman hail, at an early period, evinced a partiality 
for the privileges of his American brethren, and in the circle 
of his family and friends, vehemently contended against the 
right of Parliament to tax the colonies. The bold and deci- 
sive opposition made by the colonists to this supremacy of 
power, was to the father of Jackson a subject of great exul- 
tation. He held up their spirit of freedom, as an example 
worthy the imitation of his own countrymen, and his frequent 
panegyrics on the " American sons of liberty," gave an irre- 
sistible bias in their favour to the mind of James. He sighed 
to become one of a people, who had displayed that enthusias- 
tic devotion to liberty, which had already taken possession of his 
own feelings, and in America he conceived he would trace some 
resemblances to the virtue and heroism which had distin- 



260 JACKSON. 



f 



uishcd the ancient republics of Rome anil Greece. Young 
ackson, from the republican writers of his country, anil the 
principles of his family, had imbibed the most inveterate pre- 
judices against the hereditary and factitious distinctions of 
the British aristocracy; and the principle that a man should 
be born a king, or a legislator, was alternately the subject of 
his ridicule or indignation. The whole system of monarchy, 
appeared to him an hideous usurpation on the natural rights 
of man. and considered as a violation of those rights to opposo 
such a system could be neither treason or rebellion. 

"With sentiments so favourable to liberty, and thus early 
imbibed, young Jackson parted from his friends in England, 
and arrived at Savannah, in Georgia, in the year 1772. 

Some men are constitutionally brave, others are brave from 
reflection; from a nice sensibility to public opinion. 

Nature had destined Jackson for a soldier, and had gifted 
him with all the properties of a constitutional courage. It may 
be said of him, without exaggeration, that he wooed danger, 
and that he never was appalled by the perils and difficulties 
which at any time surrounded him. Such a man was not lit 
for the calm of despotism, or for those scenes which do not 
require the exercise of boldness, activity and enterprise. 

The period of Jackson's arrival and domiciliation in the 
state of Georgia, was favourable to the full developement of 
those vigorous traits with which nature had marked his cha- 
racter. 

The military genius of Mr. Jackson panted for an oppor- 
tunity of displaying itself. Nature had formed him an intre- 
pid soldier, and he felt all the patriotism of a native Ameri- 
can. Against the oppressions and usurpations of the British 
monarchy he had offered his services, and in defence of the 
liberties of his adopted country he was prepared to sacrifice 
his life. 

The first opportunity that presented itself, and which open- 
ed a field for the display of his courage and ardor, was when 
Barclay and Grant proposed an attack on Savannah. 

Among the volunteers sent on this service, were John Mo- 
rel, Thomas Hamilton, James Bryan, and James Jackson. — 
At this time Jackson was not nineteen years of age, and the 
voluntary offer of his services in this bold exploit, not only 
evinced great firmness of character, but unequivocally con- 
firmed the opinion entertained of his zeal and patriotism. 

At the attack of Tybec, his gallantry attracted the notice 
of Archibald Bulloch, Esq. then exercising the executive 
functions of the state, and whose thanks and approbation he 
had the honor to receive. 

He was shortly afterwards appointed to the command of a 



JACKSON. 261 

volunteer company of light infantry; but some discontents hav- 
ing taken place between himself and his men, in which he 
conceived a proper support was not afforded him by his colonel, 
he resigned this command about the time that the invasion of 
East Florida was resumed by general Howe. In this expe- 
dition however no laurels would have decorated the brows of 
the enterprising Jackson. 

In the latter part of the year 1778, he was appointed bri- 
gade major of the Georgia militia. 

Instances of patriotism are recorded of the American prison- 
ers, which evince the virtuous heroism men are always inspired 
with in their struggles for republican liberty. «{ We have 
been unfortunate in battle, (said they) but the chains of the 
victors, shall not humble the independency of our character; 
or compel us to abdicate our duty to our country." 

Resolutely refusing to enlist into the service of his Britan- 
nic majesty, they were crowded on board of his prison ships; 
and in those receptacles of misery and pestilence the heroes 
were swept away by disease and famine. Even the hour of 
death did not rescue them from the brutal sufferings of the 
British soldiery. The words, "rebel scoundrels," resounded 
in their ears in the last moments of their tortures. 

Dr. Ramsay has pathetically described the fate of Allen, 
who lost his life in a bold attempt to escape from his terrible 
confinement. These were Georgians; however his fellow pris- 
oners, who envied his fate, would cheerfully have embra- 
ced it. Death was preferable to the horrors of their loath- 
some confinement, or to the ease and liberation that would im- 
mediately have accompanied a political apostacy. 

It was the good fortune of Jackson to escape from captivity 
and a prison ship: but the possession of Savannah, having 
cutoff all his little resources, he was now compelled to fly be- 
fore the triumphant enemy, and to encounter all the privations 
and distresses of a pcnnyless, and destitute soldier. Jack- 
son's mind, however, was not of a common complexion. For- 
tified by the courage of a soldier, he was enabled to combat 
with the wants of the man. The capture or dispersion of the 
Georgia militia having taken from him the duties of an officer, 
he did not disdain to assume the station of a common soldier. 

When Provost crossed the Savannah river. Jackson was in 
the camp of Moultrie, and in that general's retreat marched as 
a common soldier from Purisburgh to Dorchester. Among 
other adventures of "this barefoot expedition" (as he styles 
it in one of his papers) he was arrested by a party of South 
Carolina militia, and had nearly suffered an ignominious 
death under a suspicion that he was a spy. A strange suspi- 
cion to be attached to the patriotic Jackson, who was at that 



2u: JACKSON. 

moment affording the most convincing proofs of his zeal in 
the < ause of American liberty ! A release and apolog) im- 
mediatety accompanied the knowledge of his character and 

services. In the siege and storm of Savannah, he in common 
With the Georgians, beha\ed with his usual gallantry. 

The officers of Georgia who had not commands formed them- 
selves in a volunteer corps under colonel Marbury, and lead 
the advance of lluger's column. In this corps it is supposed 
Major Jackson had enrolled himself. 

From the field of battle, the impetuosity of major Jackson's 
character easily led him into the field of private honor. In 
the year irso, he fought a duel with lieutenant governor 
"Wells in which combat Mr. Wells lost his life, and major 
Jackson was badly wounded in both of his knees. 

Recovering from his dangerous wounds, he retreated with 
governor How ley through the state of South Carolina, then in 
complete possession of the British. 

In August. 17HU. he joined colonel Clarke's camp, and was 
in the celebrated action of lllackstocks. "On the 20th of 
tliii month, general Sumpter was attacked at Bla( -kstot ks near 
Tyger river, by lieutenant colonel Tarleton, at the head of a 
considerable party. 

"The action was severe and obstinate. The killed and 
wounded of the British was considerable. Among the former 
were three officers, major Money, lieutenants Gibson and 
Cope. The Americans lost vcrv few; but general Sumpter 
received a wound, which for many months * interrupted his 
gallant enterprises in behalf of the state/ His zeal and ac- 
ti\ it v in animating the American militia, when they were dis 
couraged by repeated defeats, and the bravery and good con- 
duct he displayed in sundry attacks on the British detach- 
ments, procured him the applause of his countrymen, and 
thanks of congress." 

The dexterity of some of the Georgia AVilkes county rille 
men was truly astonishing. Instances are mentioned of a ri 
ileman killing a dragoon in front, then falling on the ground, 
loading his rifle, and killing another dragoon who had charg 
ed him in the rear. 

In a note to Comwallis, (which major Jackson intercepted, 
and long obtained the possession of) Tarleton attempts to 
cover his disgrace in this action, by informing his lordship that 
he had come up with, and cut to pieces the rebel rear guard. 
This reai- guard was, however, nothing more than a small re- 
connoitering party, commanded by captain Patrick Carr, who 
had taken prisoners some tories and mill-boys. On sight of 
the British, Carr, as he had been ordered, retreated to make 
a report, leaving the wretched tories at the mercy of colonel 
Tarleton. 



JACKSON. 263 

Tbcir loyalty did not save them from the sabres of his dra- 
goons: they were cut to pieces, which saved them probably 
ii-oin a milder fate than Carr had reserved for them. 

Twiggs remained on the field of battle two hours after it 
had ended, and detached major Jackson after the British, who 
captured and brought off thirty of their horses. The British 
force consisted of seven hundred men, the greatest part of 
whom were regulars. The Americans brought into action 
only four hundred and twenty militia, as appears from a com- 
parison of the returns of major Jackson, and the brigade ma- 
jor of general Sumptcr. 

The British lost in killed ninety-two, and upwards of one 
hundred wounded: among our brave countrymen, Sumpter 
and two others were wounded, ami one killed. The conduct 
of major Jackson in this action gained him a high and well- 
earned reputation among the militia of South Carolina and 
Georgia. 

Such was his influence and popularity at this period, and 
such was the unbounded confidence reposed in him, that he 
more than once, after colonel Clarke had been disabled by a 
wound at Long Cane, saved his camp from a total abandon- 
ment. 

From the field of Blackstocks we will next conduct major 
Jackson to the battle of the Cowpens, in which he acquired 
much glory, and the marked approbation of general Morgan 
The details of this battle, are in the possession of every one. 
It is only our duty to advert to them as they may be immedi- 
ately connected with the particular conduct of major Jackson. 
The day preceding this memorable engagement, the gallant 
Morgan was joined by the militia under the command of Pick- 
ens. Morgan was then at the Cowpens, and had resolved to 
give battle to the enemy. The Georgia and South Carolina 
militia were incorporated, and placed under the command of 
Pickens, who appointed major Jackson brigade major of the 
whole. 

On this day he had the honour to receive the sword of ma- 
jor M'Arthur of the British infantry, whom he conducted to 
general Morgan, and to receive the thanks of the general on 
the field of battle, for his useful and conspicuous services dur- 
ing the engagement Major Jackson's name is not mentioned 
in general Morgan's report of meritorious officers, an omis- 
sion which has been attributed to the inattention of his aid, 
major Giles. 

Alter the signal victory of the Cowpens, Morgan hastened 
with his trophies and prisoners to cross the Catawba. The 
historian informs us, that the interposition of a flood of rain, 
i becked the eager pursuit of Cornwallis, and gave time to 



oo4 JACKSON. 

the American chief, not only to place his trophies and prison- 
ers beyond the reach of the enemy, but to indulge his soldiers 
with the Abort repose they had so nobly deserved. The act 
of God had thus retarded the rapid movements of the pursuing 
British : hut the fords of the Catawba bring at length practi- 
cable, Cornwallis made his preparations to force a passage. 

The ford at Mr. Cowen's was the point to which his prin- 
cipal attention was directed. There the brave general Da- 
vidson and a body of North Carolina militia had posted them- 
selves. 

The fall of this commander was the signal for the disper- 
sion of the militia. They Red, and were pursued by Tarle- 
ton, who obtaining information that a part} of militia had col- 
lected at Torrans* tavern, ten miles from Mr. Cowen's ford, 
moved off thither with his dragoons to surprise, and attack 
them. The assault of the cavalry was immediate and impetu- 
ous: the militia assembled there were dispersed, and fifty of 
them slaughtered. 

Major Jackson had crossed the Catawba with Morgan, and 
in this skirmish displayed great personal courage in many 
bold attempts to rally the broken ranks of the militia. The 
perils he encountered this day, induced a belief that he had 
been slain, and he was accordingly reported to general Mor- 
gan, as one of the killed. 

His conduct in general Picken's brigade, in the whole of its 
sex ere duty in North Carolina, has been noticed in the 
certificate of that general. It met the approbation of general 
Greene, and the merit and gallantry which attracted the notice 
of that wise and illustrious commander, could have been of 
no ordinary complexion. 

The battle of Guilford had completely reversed the destinies 
of the two armies. The British were left in possession of the 
lield, but that was the only "positive good*' (as it is expressed 
by the historian) derived from their victory. Greene was 
prepared to renew the combat. Cornwallis has taken his 
measures to seek security in a retreat. Such was the victory 
of Guilford. 

Disappointed in his expectation of bringing on another gen- 
eral action by a further pursuit of the victorious enemy, Greene 
halted and deliberated, the result of which was a determina- 
tion to re-commence hostilities in South-Carolina. This de- 
termination, bold and happily conceived, offered to Cornwal- 
lis the alternative of again following him, or of abandoning 
the British garrisons in the back parts of South-Carolina and 
Georgia. 

The resolution being formed of making South-Carolina the 
scat of war. general Pickens received orders to collect tht 



JACKSON, 265 

militia of his brigade, and to intercept and destroy all convoys 
and supplies intended for the posts of Ninety-Six and Augus- 
ta. But at this time colonel Baker had undertaken an ex- 
pedition against the upper country of Georgia, upon intelli- 
gence of which major Jackson left South Carolina, and re- 
paired to the standard of that officer* 

After encountering all the difficuties and dangers of a passage 
through an hostile country, major Jackson arrived in Geor- 
gia, and was immediately ordered with the gallant major 
Samuel Hammond to re-cross into South Carolina, and to or- 
ganize the militia on that side of the Savannah river. Two 
hundred and fifty men were collected by these officers, and the 
command given to colonel Leroy Hammond. The British 
had now lost six of their posts ; and the next object of the 
Americans was the reduction of the garrisons of Ninety-Six 
and Augusta. 

At this period, agreeably to a promise made him, when at- 
tached to Pickens' brigade, he received from general Greene, 
a colonel's commission for a partisan legion, which his well 
established popularity, influence and bravery, enabled him to 
fill in the course of a few days. He was also appointed com- 
mandant of Augusta. He afterwards marched into Wilkes 
county to succour the militia and inhabitants under colonel 
Clarke, who were menaced by the garrison of Ninety-Six, 
and the tories of South Carolina. 

He maintained the post at Augusta until a legislature was 
convened there, in August, 1781, when Nathan Brovvnson was 
elected governor, and colonel Twiggs, in consideration of his 
gallant services, was at the same time appointed a brigadier 
general. 

In September, the general, with the legion of colonel Jack- 
son in advance, took a position midway between Augusta and 
Savannah, from whence he was engaged in perpetual skir- 
mishes with the enemy. Some short time previous to the march 
of the militia from Augusta, British emissaries had nearly ef- 
fected a revolt in colonel Jackson's legion. Intelligence of 
these intrigues were communicated to the colonel by his ser- 
vant, David Davis, one of his dragoons, who by affecting an 
animosity against the colonel, obtained a full knowledge of 
the intended mutiny. Their plan was to bayonet the colonel 
in his bed, which service was to have been performed by his 
own quarter guard; to murder the principal officers, and to 
conduct the governor to the British in Savannah. 

Not a moment was now to be lost; every thing depended 
upon an instantaneous boldness and decision. The colonel 
sent immediate orders to his dragoons not engaged in the con- 
spiracy, to repair to him. On their arrival, he ordered the 



m JACKSON, 

infantry to turn out without arms, under the pretence of re- 
ceiving clothing, and in this situation he came in full charge 
upon them with his dragoons. A court martial was convened 
and the ringleaders executed. Such were the happy effects 
produced by this austere discipline, that ever afterwards 
the greatest confidence was reposed in the fidelity and bra- 
very of the infantry. 

In November, 1781, general Twiggs detached colonel Jack- 
son, with Stailing's dragoons, M'Kay's riflemen, and Carres 
volunteer dragoons, to surprize the British fort at Ogechee 
ferry. This service was performed with great address and se- 
crecy. The attack of the white house was conducted with 
the same caution and success; a surrender almost immediately 
followed the appearance of the Americans; but the glory of this 
brilliant exploit was soon obscured by the rash and sangui- 
nary act of captain Can*, who killing one of the British of- 
ficers after the surrender, the rest resumed their arms, and 
retiring to a fortified house, compelled the colonel to relin 
quish his prize. 

The next object which presented itself was the strong post 
of militia, established at Butler's house, under the command 
of a captain Goldsmith. This post was carried by assault, 
and the whole of the British party killed or captured. A 
few hours after the reduction of this post, the battle was re- 
newed with the whole force of colonel Campbell's cavalry. — 
The situation of colonel Jackson w r as now critical and alarm- 
ing. No contest could have been more unequal. M'Kay's 
riflemen had left him to collect the spoils of their preceding 
victories; and the defection of these men had now reduced his 
force to forty-nine of Stallings and Can's dragoons, and 
eight dismounted militia, under the command of captain Wil- 
liam Greene. "With this small force, he had to combat with 
eighty-five British dragoons, well accoutered and equipped. 
Greene's men were ordered to advance in front of a liammoc 
thicket, which covered the dragoons. 

This little band having received the first shock of the Bri- 
tish horse, the dragoons of Jackson immediately charged and 
broke the centre of their column. The British cavalry fled, 
and were pursued; but being stopped by a fence, tliey rallied 
and formed. The American dragoons slowly retired. The 
British did not think it prudent to follow them. The enemy 
lost in killed and wounded, forty-two officers and privates, 
within seven of the whole force of the American dragoons ; 
whose loss amounted to six killed and seven wounded, and 
five taken prisoners, among whom was captain Bugg of the 
Legion. This action being represented to general Greene, 
lie wrote a letter to governor Brownson, in which he applauded 



JACKSON. 26. 

in high terms the gallantry of colonel Jackson, and promised 
-to communicate it to congress. 

The battle of the 21st May, 1782, with colonel Brown, 
brought to a conclusion the revolutionary services of colonel 
Jackson. On this day he was ordered to take a position near 
the plantation of James Habersham. Here he was informed, 
that a troop of British dragoons were stationed at Ogechee 
ferry. Having posted the main body of his detachment at 
Little Ogechee bridge, he moved on with his horse, and a few 
mounted infantry, and fell in at Fox's with a large body of Bri- 
tish militia and regulars. These he charged, but being re- 
pulsed by a superiority of numbers, retreated in good order 
to join the main body at the bridge of Little Ogechee. The 
British continued the pursuit until the colonel had reached his 
detachment, with which he made so prompt and judicious a 
manoeuvre, as nearly to have taken prisoners the whole of 
the enemy's horse. 

This skirmish was of great importance to general Wayne, 
as by diminishing the force of the British cavalry, it tended 
to facilitate his victory over colonel Brown. 

On the 12th of July, 1782, the British evacuated Savananh, 
and in consequence of the military and meritorious services 
(as it was expressed by general Wayne) colonel Jackson was 
ordered to enter and take possession of the town. The keys 
of the gates were delivered him by a committee of British of- 
ficers, and he had the pleasure, the proud satisfaction, of being 
the first man who entered the town, from whence, in 1778, he 
and his brother soldiers and patriots had been driven and 
exiled. 
The following orders were issued on this occasion by general 

Wayne : 
"Head-Quarters, Camp at Gibbons's, July 10, 1782. 

" As the enemy may be expected daily to evacuate the town, 
the troops will take care to be provided with a clean shift of 
linen, and to make themselves as respectable as possible for 
the occasion. The officers are particularly called upon to 
attend to this order, ) and see it executed in their respective 
Corps. No followers of the army are to be permitted to enter 
the town, until the main body has marched in. Lieutenant 
colonel Jackson, in consideration of his severe and fatiguing 
service in the advance, is to receive the keys of Savannah, and 
is allowed to enter at the western gate, keeping a patrole in 
town to apprehend stragglers, who may steal in with the 
hope of plunder. Marauders may assure themselves of the 
most severe and exemplary punishment." 

This was a glorious day to the republican Jackson. Al- 
ways devoted to the principles of freedom, he had embarked 



268 JACKSON. 

in the American cause with the ardour of a brave soldier, and 
the determined zeal of an honest incorruptible patriot. In 
the rapid survey we have taken of his military services, it 
cannot be denied, but that he was useful and undaunted in all 
the stations he had the honour to occupy: and surely nothing 
is hazarded in the assertion, that in the subordinate spheres 
in which he was permitted to move, no patriot of the revolu- 
tion was more enthusiastically sincere in his attachment to 
the interests of America, or encountered with more resolution 
the perils which encompassed the exertions of our revolution- 
ary heroes. 

In July, 1782, the general Assembly of Georgia, presented 
him with a house and lot in Savannah, for his revolutionary 
services. 

Colonel Jackson had been educated as an attorney, and in 
that capacity he now soon acquired an extensive practice. 
Indeed, such was his industry and indefatigable devotion to 
the duties of his profession, that in a short time he had the sa- 
tisfaction of finding himself in possession of a competency, 
which enabled him to turn his attention to pursuits more con- 
genial to his ambition. 

In 1783, he was chosen a member of the legislature. In 1784, 
lie was appointed colonel of the Chatham county, or first regi- 
ment of Geogia militia. In 1786, he received the commission 
of Brigadier General ; and in the course of the same year was 
admitted an honorary member of the Georgia Cincinnati So- 
ciety. In January, 1788, he was elected governor of Geor- 
gia, but declined that honourable and distinguished station. 
He was also appointed a major general of the militia of the 
state of Georgia ; and subsequently elected by the legislature 
of Georgia, to the dignified station of Senator in the congress 
of the United States. 

In this rapid succession, did honors follow the revolution- 
ary merit and patriotism of general Jackson. 

General Jackson died at the city of Washington, on the 
19th day of January, 1806, whilst attending his duties as a 
Senator of the United States. 

He died the unalterable, the fervid patriot of 1776. He 
drew his last breath at a moment when the situation of tbis 
country demanded all his zeal. If he had lived, he would 
have stood in the lists of those patriots who will never sacri- 
fice the legal rights of their country at the shrine of ignoble 
peace. If we mistake not, no temporary inconveniences to com- 
mercial profit, no temporary diminution of the revenue of the 
United States, would have obtained his assent to any measures 
which indirectly acknowledged the imbecility of their govern- 
ment, or the pusilanimity of their people. 



JAMES. 269 

General Jackson was born an Englishman, but his heart 
was American. If every native feels the same affection for 
this country that he did, it is able to protect itself against all 
attempts on its liberties. The amor vincit patriae of theorists 
would then be confirmed by the operation of practical vir- 
tues. He offers a noble example to naturalized citizens, who 
have solemnly pledged themselves to support the principles of 
this government. The love of native soil is natural, and it 
is amiable: but local attachment should not prevent an hon- 
nourable discharge of duty, when the dangers and interests of 
this country demand the services and zeal of adopted country- 
men. They have done their duty. Having discharged it, 
they will meet the reward which it is in the power of a free 
people to bestow: and like general Jackson, they will afford 
this useful lesson to the world, that men can be found in the 
bosom of this rising republic, who know- and feel no other ob- 
ligations than those which result from honour and abstract 
patriotism. 

General Jackson had his frailties and imperfections in com- 
mon with other men. He suffered perhaps the impetuosity of 
his temper to hurry him into extremes, too often and unne- 
cessarily. In private life, the manners and virtues of the ge- 
neral were of an amiable complexion. He was indeed an af- 
fectionate father and husband; and a humane master. In all 
these relations, and in the discharge of the duties incidental 
to them, he is worthy of the strictest imitation. He was a 
plain hearted republican, whose tongue knew no guile; whose 
heart never palpitated with fear, or planned dishonesty. 

There were other patriots who performed greater services 
than he performed; but no patriot ever practised a more dar- 
ing courage, or evinced a more fervid attachment to the liberty 
and independence of America. No officer moving in the li- 
mited spheres of command which was given him at different 
periods of the war, could have performed his duty better; with 
more zeal, fidelity and firmness. 

JAMES, John, was born in Ireland in 1732, and was the 
son of an officer who had served king William in his wars in 
Ireland against king James. This circumstance was the ori- 
gin of the name of Williamsburg, which is now attached to 
one of the districts of Carolina. The elder James, with his 
family, and several of his neighbours, migrated to that district 
in 1735, made the first settlement there, and in honor of king 
William gave his name to a village laid out on the east bank 
of Black river. The village is now called King's Tree, from 
a white or short leafed pine which in old royal grants was re- 
served for the use of the king ; and the name of Williamsburg 
has been transferred to the district. To it major James, when 



270 JAMES. 

an infant, was brought by his parents. His first rccoliei 
tions were those of a stockade fort, and of war between the. 
new settlers and natives. The former were often reduced to 
great straits in procuring the necessaries of life, and in defend- 
ing themselves against the Indians. In this then frontier set- 
tlement, major James, Mr. James Bradley, and other compa- 
triots of the revolution, were trained up to defend and love 
their country. Their opportunities for acquiring liberal edu- 
cations, were slender; but for obtaining religious instruction, 
were very ample. They were brought up under the eye and 
pastoral care of the Rev. John Rae, a presbyterian minister, 
who accompanied his congregation in their migration from 
Ireland to Carolina. When the revolution commenced in 1775, 
major James had acquired a considerable portion of reputation 
ami property. He was a captain of militia under George the 
3d. Disapproving of the measures of the British govern- 
ment, he resigned his royal commission, but was soon after 
reinstated by a popular vote. In the year 1776, he marched 
with his company to the defence of Charleston. In the year 
1779, he was with general Moultrie on his retreat before gen- 
eral Prevost, and commanded one hundred and twenty rifle- 
men in the skirmish at Tulifinny. When Charleston was be- 
sieged in 1780, major James marched to its defence, but gov- 
ernor John Rutledge ordered him back to embody the country 
militia. The town having fallen, he was employed to wait 
on the conquerors and to inquire of them what terms they 
would give. On this occasion major James waited on cap- 
tain Ardesoif, a British officer, who had arrived at George- 
town, and published a proclamation, inviting the people to 
come in, swear allegiance to king George, and take protect 
tion. Many of the inhabitants of Georgetown submitted. 
But that portion of the district, stretching from the Santeeto 
the Pedec, containing the whole of the present Williamsburg, 
and part of Marion district, the inhabitants of which being 
generally of Irish extraction, were very little disposed to 
submission. At this crisis there was a meeting of the people, 
to deliberate on their situation. Major James was selected 
as the person who should go down to captain Ardesoif, and 
know from him upon what terms they would be allowed to sub- 
mit. Accordingly, he proceeded to Georgetown, in the plain 
garb of a country planter, and was introduced to the captain 
at his lodgings. 

After narrating the nature of his mission, the captain, sur- 
prised that such an embassy should be sent to him, answered, 
"•that their submission should be unconditional." To an en- 
quiry "whether they would be allowed to stay at home upon 
their plantation in peace and quiet," he replied, "though you 



JAMES. 271 

have rebelled against his majesty he offers you a free pardon, 
of which you were undeserving, for you ought all to have been 
hanged. As he offers you a free pardon you must take up arms 
in support of his cause." To major James suggesting "that 
the people he came to represent would not submit on such 
terms," the captain, irritated at his republican language, par- 
ticularly at the word 'represent,* replied, "you d d 

rebel ! if you speak in such language, I will immediately order 
you to be hung up to the yard arm." Major James perceiv- 
ing what turn matters were likely to take, and not brooking 
this harsh language, suddenly seized the chair on which he 
was seated, brandished it in the face of the captain, made good 
his way through the back door of the house, mounted his 
horse, made his escape through the country, and rejoining his 
friends, formed the stamina of the distinguished corps known 
in the latter periods of the revolutionary war by the name of 
Marion's brigade. 

In the course of this cruel and desultory warfare, major 
James was reduced from easy circumstances to poverty. All 
his movable property was carried off, and every house on his 
plantation burnt; but he bore up under these misfortunes and 
devoted not only all his possessions but life itself for the good 
of his country. After Greene, as commander in chief, had su- 
perseded Marion, major James continued to serve under the 
former and fought with him at the battle of Eutaw. The corps 
with which he served consisted mostly of riflemen, and 
were each furnished with twenty-four rounds of cartridges. 
Many of them expended the whole, and most of them twenty 
of these in firing on the enemy. As they were in the habit 
of taking aim, their shot seldom failed of doing execution. 
Shortly after this action, major James and general Marion, 
were both elected members of the state legislature. Before the 
general had rejoined his brigade, it was unexpectedly attack- 
ed, and after retreating was pursued by a party of the British 
commanded by colonel Thompson, now count Rumford. In 
this retreat major James being mounted, was nearly overta- 
ken by two British dragoons, but kept them from cutting 
him down by a judicious use of his pistols, and escaped by 
leaping a chasm in a bridge twenty feet in width. The dra- 
goons did not follow. The major being out of their reach, 
rallied his men, brought them back to the charge, and stop- 
ped the progress of the enemy. When the war was nearly 
over, he resigned his commission, and like another Cincinnatus, 
returned to his farm, and devoted the remainder of his days to 
the improvement of his property and the education of his 
children. In the year 1791, he died with the composure and 
fortitude of a christian hero. 



27* JASPER. 

JASPER, , was a man of strong mind, but as it 

had not been cultivated by education, he modestly declined 
the acceptance of a commission, which was offered to him.— 
His conduct, however, merits particular notice, and his name 
is entitled to a page in the history of fame. At the com- 
mencement of the revolutionary war, Jasper enlisted in the 
second South Carolina regiment of infantry, commanded by 
colonel Moultrie, as a sergeant. He distinguished himself in 
a particular manner at the attack which was made upon Fort 
Moultrie, on Sullivan's island, the 28th of June, 1776. In 
the warmest part of the contest, the flag-staff was severed by 
a cannon ball, and the flag fell to the bottom of the ditch, on 
the outside of the works. This accident was considered by 
the anxious inhabitants of Charleston as putting an end to the 
contest, by striking the American flag to the enemy. The mo- 
ment that Jasper made discovery that the flag had fallen, he 
jumped from one of the embrasures, and mounted the colours, 
which he tied to a sponge staff, and replanted them on the pa- 
rapet, where he supported them until another flag-staff was 
procured. The subsequent activity and enterprise of this 
patriot, induced colonel Moultrie to give him a sort of a rov- 
ing commission, to go and come at pleasure, confident that he 
was always usefully employed. He was privileged to select 
such men from the regiment as he chose to accompany him in 
his enterprises. His parties consisted of five or six ; and he 
often returned with prisoners before Moultrie was apprised of 
his absence. Jasper was distinguished for bis humane treat- 
ment when an enemy fell into his power. His ambition ap- 
pears to have been limited to the characteristics of bravery, 
humanity and usefulness, to the cause in which he engaged — - 
When it was in his power to kill, but not capture, it was his 
practice to permit a single prisoner to escape. By his sagacity 
and enterprise, lie often succeeded in the capture of those who 
were lying in ambush for him. In one of these excursions, an 
instance of bravery and humanity is recorded by the bio- 
grapher of general Marion, which would stagger credulity, if 
it was not well attested. While he was examining the British 
camp at Ebenczer, all the sympathy of his kind heart was 
awakened by the distresses of Mrs. Jones, whose husband, an 
American by birth, had taken the king's protection, and been 
Confined in irons for deserting the royal cause, after he had 
taken the oath of allegiance. Her well-founded belief was, 
that nothing short of the life of her husband would atone for 
the offence with which he was charged. Anticipating the aw- 
ful scene of a beloved husband expiring upon the gibbet, had 
excited inexpressible emotions of grief and distraction. 

Jasper secretly consulted with his companion, sergeant 



JASPER. 273 

Newton, whose feelings for the distressed female and her child, 
were equally excited with his own, upon the practicability of 
releasing Jones from his impending fate. Though they were 
unable to suggest a plan of operation, they had determined to 
watch for the most favorable opportunity, and make the ef- 
fort. The departure of Jones and several others (all in irons) 
to Savannah, for trial, under a guard consisting of a ser- 
geant, a corporal, and eight men, was ordered upon the suc- 
ceeding morning. Within two miles of Savannah, about thir- 
ty yards from the main road, is a spring of fine water, sur- 
rounded by a deep and thick underwood, where travellers of- 
ten halt to refresh themselves with a cool draught from^the 
pure fountain. Jasper and his companion considered this the 
most favorable to their enterprize. They accordingly passed 
the guard and concealed themselves near the spring. When 
the enemy came up, they halted, and only two of the guard 
remained with the prisoners while the others leaned their guns 
against trees in a careless manner and went to the spring. — • 
Jasper and Newton seized two of the muskets, and disabled 
two sentinels. The possession of all the arms placed the ene- 
my in their power, and compelled them to surrender. The 
irons were taken off, and put into the hands of those who had 
been prisoners, and the whole party arrived at Perrysburg 
the next morning and joined the American camp. There are 
but few instances upon record, where personal exertions, 
even for self-preservation from certain death would have in- 
duced resort to an act so desperate of execution. How much 
more laudable was this where the spring to action was roused 
by the lamentation of a female, unknown to the adventurers. 
Subsecpuent to the gallant defence of Sullivan's Island, co- 
lonel Moultrie's regiment was presented with a stand of colors 
by Mrs. Elliot, which she had richly embroidered with her 
own hands, and as a reward for Jasper's particular merit, 
governor Rutledge presented him with a very handsome sword. 
During the assault against Savannah, two officers bad been 
killed, and one wounded endeavoring to plant these colors up* 
on the enemy's parapet of the spring hill redoubt. Just be- 
fore the retreat was ordered, Jasper endeavoured to replace 
them upon the works, and while he was in the act, received a 
mortal wound and fell into the ditch. When the retreat was 
ordered he recollected the honorable conditions upon which 
the donor presented the colors of the regiment, and among the 
last acts of his life succeeded in bringing them off. Major 
Horry called to see him soon after the retreat, to whom, it is 
said, he made the following communication: "I have got my 
furlough. That sword was presented to me by governor Rut- 
ledge for my services in defence of Fort Moultrie; give it to 

35 



Z7A JOHNSON— JONES. 

my father, and tell feint, I wore it in honor. If the old man 
should weep, tell him his son died in hopes of a hotter life. — 
Tell Mrs. Elliott that I lost my life in supporting the colors, 
which she presented to our regiment. Should you ever see 
Jones, wife and son, tell them Jasper is gone, but the remem- 
brance of that battle which he fought for them, brought a se- 
cret joy into my heart, when it was about to stop its motions 
forever." He expired in a few minutes after closing this sen- 
tence. 

JOHNSON, Francis, was a native of the state of Penn- 
sylvania. He had just commenced the practice of the law, 
when the revolutionary war commenced ; when abandoning 
bis private pursuits, be joined the late general Anthony 
Wayne in raising a body of men, which were commanded by 
Wayne as colonel, and Johnson as lieutenant colonel. Upon 
the promotion of colonel Wayne, the subject of this memoir 
succeeded to the command of the fifth Pennsylvania regiment; 
with which he was present at many of the most sanguinary 
conflicts, during the war; at Ticonderoga, Stoney Point, 
Monmouth, Brandywine, and other battles. After the resto- 
ration of peace, he held several oflices of honour and profit, 
under the government of his native state; and in his declin- 
ing years, (having had his fortune materially injured by mis- 
placed confidence) he was elected to the very lucrative and 
honourable office of high sheriff of the city and county of Phi- 
ladelphia. He was elected to this by those who differed with 
him in political opinion, thereby shewing (however true the 
charge of ingratitude may be against republics generally) that 
the people of republican America have not forgotten the ser- 
vices of those to whose exertions they are indebted for the li- 
berty they now enjoy. 

Colonel Johnson died in Philadelphia, on the 22d February- 
1815, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was a bene- 
volent and kind friend, and beloved and respected by all who 
had the pleasure of his acquaintance. 

JONES, Paul, one of the most enterprising and resolute- 
mariners America had, during the contest with Great Bri- 
tain, was born in Galway county, Scotland, in 1747, and 
could lay claims to but humble parentage. His father had 
been a gardener to the earl of Selkirk. His original name 
was John Paul. The son received the same name, and was 
taken into the family of the earl of Selkirk, and was there 
educated under a private tutor. At the age of fifteen, from 
what cause is not at present known, lie took up with a seafar- 
ing life, and after a regular apprenticeship, became master of 
a vessel, engaged in the West India trade. In one of bis 
very ages to Tobago, a mutiny arose in the ship, which was 



JONES. 275 

quelled, but not without the death of one of the mutineers,— 
When arrived at Tobago, he delivered himself up to trial, and 
was acquitted. After acquittal, he returned to England, and 
was threatened with imprisonment, in order for a new trial. 
Feeling, probably, the injustice of such a measure, he quitted 
his country, and took refuge in America. He arrived here at 
a most important period. Tiie colonics were on the eve of a 
separation from the parent state. The conflict had begun, 
and Jones, under his assumed name, having received a lieute- 
nant's commission, embarked on the expedition against New 
Providence, under commodore Hopkins. 

At his return, he was appointed to command a sloop^of 
twelve guns, and a short time after, to a ship of eighteen guns. 
In this he cruised, in 1778, around the coasts of England and 
Scotland, made a descent upon the coast of Scotland, near the 
earl of Selkirk's house, and carried off the family plate, which 
was afterwards restored. He landed also at Whitehaven, in 
Cutnberlandshire, but without causing material injury to the 
inhabitants. In cruising, the same year, off the Irish coast, 
he discovered a British vessel, by the name of the Drake, in 
the harbour of Waterford, and challenged her to combat. The 
challenge she accepted, and was beaten. 

In the summer of 1779, a squadron was fitted out, over 
which Mr. Jones was appointed commander. He sailed in 
the Bonne Homme Richard of forty guns, and four hundred 
and fifteen men. This squadron sailed from France on the 
14th of August, and was successful in making a variety of 
captures, both of merchant vessels, and vessels of war. In 
a gale, he was separated from the rest of his forces, but w T as 
rejoined by them about the first of September. He then cruis- 
ed about the north-east coast of Scotland, and formed the dar- 
ing plan of levying a contribution upon the town of Leith. — 
This was to be effected by putting himself off as the command- 
er of a British squadron, till his plan could be put in execu- 
tion, and then to demand a ransom of the town for one hun- 
dred thousand pounds, on the alternative of suffering a total 
destruction of the town. This deception was discovered, just 
as the squadron had hove to before the town of Leith. On 
this he immediately put to sea, and on the 22d of September 
arrived at Flamborough head. 

When cruising off Flamborough head, about two leagues 
from the shore, on the 22d September, at 2 o'clock, P. M. he 
descried the Baltic fleet, for which he had been so long on the 
look-out, under convoy. The fleet w r as convoyed by a fri- 
gate and a sloop of war. Preparations were immediately 
made for action. 

When the hostile ships had sufficiently neared, their vespec- 



£76 JONES. 

tive captains hailed each other, and commenced the scene of 
carnage, at moon rise, about a quarter before eight, at pistol 
shot distance. The English ship gave the first fire from her 
upper and quarter deck, which Jones returned with alacrity. 
Three of his lower deck guns on the starboard side, burst in 
the gunroom, and killed the men stationed at them, in conse- 
quence of which, orders were given not to fire the other three 
eighteen pounders mounted on that deck, lest a similar mis- 
fortune should occur. This prevented him from the advantage 
he expected to have derived from them in the then existing 
calm. Having to contend alone with both the enemy's ships, 
and the Bonne Homme Richard having received several shot, 
between wind and water, he grappled with the larger vessel, 
to render her force useless, and to prevent firing from the 
smaller one. In effecting this object, the superior maneu- 
vering of the larger ship embarrassed him greatly, He suc- 
ceeded, however, in laying his ship athwart the hawse of his 
opponent's. His mizzen shrouds struck the jib-boom of the ene- 
my, and hung for some time; but they soon gave way, when 
both fell along side of each other, head to stern. The fluke of 
the enemy's spare anchor, hooked the Bonne Homme Rich- 
ard's quarter, botli ships being so closely grappled fore and 
aft, that the muzzles of their respective guns touched each 
other's sides. The captain of the enemy's smaller ship judi- 
ciously ceased firing, as soon as captain Jones had effected 
his design, lest he should assist to injure his consort. In this 
situation, the crews of both ships continued the engagement 
for several hours. Many of the guns of the American ships 
were rendered useless, while those of the English remained 
manageable. Sonic time after, a brave fellow, posted in the 
Bonne Homme Richard's main top, succeeded in silencing a 
number of the enemy's guns. This man, with a lighted match, 
and a basket filled with hand grenades, advanced along the 
main yard, until he was over the enemy's deck. Being ena- 
bled to distinguish objects by the light of the moon, wherever 
he discovered a number of persons together, he dropped a 
hand grenade among them. He succeeded in dropping seve- 
ral through the scuttles of the ship; these set fire to the cart- 
ridge of an eighteen pounder, which communicated successive- 
ly to other cartridges, disabled all the officers and men, and 
rendered useless all the guns abaft the mainmast. The ene- 
my's ship was, many times, set on fire, by the great quantity 
of combustible matter thrown on board, and with much diffi- 
culty and toil the flames were as often extinguished. To- 
wards the close of the action, all the guns of the Bonne 
Homme Richard were silenced, except four on the fore-castle 
'which were commanded by the purser, who was dangerously 



JONES. 277 

wounded. Jones immediately took their command on himself. 
The two guns next the enemy were well served. The seamen 
succeeded in removing another from the opposite side. Hence 
only three guns were used towards the close of the action on 
hoard of Jones' ship. The musketry and swivels, however, 
did great execution, as did also the incessant fire from the 
round tops, in consequence of which the enemy were several 
times driven from their quarters. 

About ten o'clock, a report was in circulation between 
decks, that Jones and the chief officers were killed ; that the 
ship had four or five feet water in her hold, and was sinking. 
The crew became alarmed, and the gunner, the carpenter, and 
the master at arms, were deputed to go on deck, and beg quar- 
ters of the enemy. They ascended the quarter deck, and 
whilst in the act of fulfilling their mission, were discovered 
by the commodore, crying for quarters. Hearing the voice 
of Jones, calling, "what rascals are these; shoot them; kill 
them," the carpenter and master at arms succeeded in getting 
below. The commodore threw both his pistols at the gunner, 
who had descended to the foot of the gang-way ladder, and 
his skull was thereby fractured. The man lay there until the 
action was over, after which his skull was trepanned, and he 
recovered. While the action continued to rage with relent- 
less fury, both ships took fire, in consequence of which the 
crews were obliged to cease from firing, and exert themselves 
in extinguishing the (lames, in which their respective vessels 
were enveloped, and thus prevent the certain destruction of 
the combatants. The fire being extinguished, the captain of 
the hostile ships asked, if Jones had struck, as he had heard 
a cry for quarters. Jones replied, that his colours would 
never descend, till he was fairly beaten. The action re-com- 
menced with renewed vigor. Shortly after, the Alliance, 
captain Landais, came up within pistol shot, and began a 
heavy firing, injuring both friend and foe: nor did the firing 
cease from her, notwithstanding repeated hailing, until the 
signal of recognition was fully displayed on board the Bonne 
Homme Richard. Nearly one hundred of the prisoners, pre- 
viously captured, had been suffered to ascend the deck by 
Jones' master at arms, during the confusion occasioned by the 
cry for quarters, owing to a belief that the vessel was sink- 
ing. To prevent danger from this circumstance, they were 
stationed at the pumps, where they remained in active employ 
during the remainder of the battle. 

The sides of the Bonne Homme Richard were nearly stove 
in, her helm had become unmanageable: a splintered piece of 
timber alone supported the poop. A brisk firing, however, 
was kept up from her three guns on the quarter deck. Their 



278 JONES. i 

shot raked the enemy fore and aft, cutting up his rigging and 
spars, so that his mainmast had only the yard-arm of the 
Bonne Homme Richard for his support. The enemy's fire 
subsided by degrees, and when his guns could no longer be 
brought to bear, he struck his colours. 

At this juncture, his mainmast went by the board. Lieu- 
tenant Dale was left below, where being no longer able to 
rally his men, he, although severely wounded, superintended, 
the working of the pumps. Notwithstanding every effort, 
the hold of the Bonne Homme Richard was half full of water, 
when the enemy surrendered. After the action, the wind blew 
fresh, and the flames on board the Richard spread anew, nor 
were they extinguished until day-light appeared. In the 
meantime all the ammunition was brought on deck to be thrown 
overboard, in case of necessity. The enemy had nailed his 
flag to the mast, at the beginning of the action; and after the 
captain had called for quarters, he could not prevail upon his 
men to bring down his colours, as they expressed their dread 
of the American rifles. He was, therefore, obliged to do that 
service himself. In taking possession of the enemy, three of 
Jones' men were killed after the surrender, for which an apo- 
logy was afterwards made. The captured vessel proved to 
be His Britannic Majesty's ship Serapis, captain Pearson, 
rating forty-four, but mounting fifty carriage guns. The 
Bonne Homme Richard had one hundred and sixty-five killed, 
and one hundred and thirty-seven wounded and missing. The 
Serapis one hundred and thirty-seven killed, and seventy-six 
wounded. All hands were removed on board the prize, to- 
gether with such articles as could be saved, and about ten 
o'clock, A. M. the next day, the Bonne Homme Richard 
sunk. 

Shortly after this contest had terminated, captain Cotincau 
in the Pallas, engaged the enemy's lesser ship, which struck 
after a severe engagement of two hours and a half. She 
proved to be the Countess of Scarborough. Her braces were 
all cut away, as well as her running rigging and top-sail 
sheets. Seven of her guns were dismounted; four men killed, 
and twenty wounded. More than fifteen hundred, persons 
witnessed the sanguinary conflict from Flamborough head. 

On his arrival in America, Congress passed an act, dated 
April 14, 1781, in which he was thanked, in the most flatter- 
ing manner, "for the zeal, the prudence and the intrepidity, 
with which he sustained the honour of the American flag ; for 
his hold and successful enterprise, with a view to redeem from 
captivity the citizens of America, who had fallen into the 
hands of the English; and for the eminent services by which 
he bad added lustre to his own character and the arms of Ameiv 



KALB. 279 

ica." A committee of Congress was also of opinion, "that 
lie deserved a gold medal in remembrance of his services." 

Jones seems to have been a man capable of the most daring 
deeds, both from his bravery and his arts of deception. An 
instance of the latter occurs in a case of attack upon an En- 
glish frigate, superior to him in force, off the Island of Ber- 
muda. Happening to fall in with this frigate, he was imme- 
diately hailed, when he returned the name of a ship of the Bri- 
tish navy. This satisfied the English captain, who, as the 
sea was rough and as it was near night, ordered him to keep 
company till the morrow, when he would send his boat aboard. 
But to-morrow never dawned on the hapless Englishman, 
for Jones, getting up within pistol shot distance, discharged a 
broadside into him, and immediately discharged the other, 
when the English vessel sunk with every soul on board her. 
Jones was then in the United States' frigate Ariel. On peace 
taking place, he returned to Europe, and going to St. Peters- 
burgh, was honoured with a commission in the Empress Cath- 
arine's fleet, when the English under him refusing to serve, 
lie was transferred to a command under the Prince of Nassau, 
then acting against the Turkish fleet. Here by a successful 
stratagem, he put the Turkish fleet into the power of the 
Prince, who wantonly set it on fire, and thus barbarously in- 
volved the crews in one general destruction. On Jones' retire- 
ment from the service, he went to France, and after living 
through the first stages of the revolution, died in the city of 
Paris in the year 1792. 

KALB, Baron de, was major general in the American 
army during the revolutionary war. He was a German by 
birth, a brave and meritorious officer. He had attained a high 
reputation in military service, and was a knight of the order 
of military merit, and a brigadier general in the armies of 
France. He accompanied the marquis de la Fayette to this 
country, and having proffered his services to Congress, he was 
appointed to the office of major general. He repaired to the 
main army, in which he served at the head of the Maryland 
division, very much respected. 

Possessing a stout frame, with excellent health, no officer 
was more able to encounter the toils of war. Moderate in 
mental powers, as in literary acquirements, he excelled chief- 
ly in practical knowledge of men and things, gained during a 
life by close and accurate investigation of the cause and ef- 
fect of passing events. 

No man was better qualified for the undertaking. He was 
sober, drinking water only : abstemious to excess ; living on 
bread, sometimes with beef soap, at other times with cold beef; 
industrious, it being his constant habit to rise at five in the 



280 KALB. 

morning, light his candle, devote himself to writing, which 
was never intermitted during the day hut when interrupted by 
his short meals, or by attention to his official duty ; and pro- 
foundly secret. 

No man surpassed this gentleman in simplicity and conde- 
scension; which gave to his deportment a cast of amiability 
extremely ingratiating, exciting confidence and esteem. 

At the battle of Camden, in South Carolina, the baron dc 
Kalb commanded the right wing of the American army.— 
At the commencement of the action, the great body of the 
militia, who formed the left wing of the army, on being charg- 
ed with fixed bayonets by the British infantry, threw down 
their arms, and with the utmost precipitation fled from the 
field. In this battle the Americans suffered a severe defeat 
and loss. The continental troops, who formed the right wing 
of the army, inferior as they were in numbers to the British, 
stood their ground, and maintained the conflict with great re- 
solution. Never did men acquit themselves better. The 
Americans lost the whole of their artillery, eight field pieces, 
upwards of two hundred wagons, and the greatest part of 
their baggage. The royal army fought with great bravery, 
but their victory was in a great measure owing to their -supe- 
riority in cavalry, and the precipitate retreat of the American 
militia. 

Dc Kalb, sustaining by his splendid example the coura- 
geous efforts of our inferior force, in his last resolute attempt 
to seize victory, received eleven wounds, and was made pri- 
soner. His lingering life was rescued from immediate death 
by the brave interposition of lieutenant-colonel du Buysson, 
one of his aid-de-camps; who, embracing the prostrate gene- 
ral, received into his own body the bayonets pointed at his 
friend. Chevalier de Buysson rushed through the clashing 
bayonets, and stretching his arms over the body of the fallen 
hero, exclaimed, "save the Baron de Kalb ! save the Baron 
de Kalb !" The British officers interposed and prevented his 
immediate destruction ; but he survived tlte action but a few 
hours. To a British officer, who kindly condoled with him in 
his misfortune, he replied, " I thank you for your generous 
sympathy, but I die the death I always prayed for ; the death 
of soldier fighting for the rights of man." 

The heroic veteran, though treated with every attention, 
survived but a few days. Never were the last moments of a 
soldier better employed. He dictated a letter to general 
Smallwood, who succeeded to the command of his division, 
breathing in every word his sincere and ardent affection for 
his officers and soldiers; expressing his admiration of their 
late noble, though unsuccessful, stand; reciting the eulogy 



\ 



KALB. 2S1 

•\vliich their bravery had extorted from the enemy ; together 
with the lively delight such testimony of their valour had ex- 
cited in his own mind, then hovering on the shadow y con- 
fines of life. Feeling the pressure of death, he stretched out 
his quivering hand to his friend and aid-de-camp, Chevalier 
de Buysson, proud of his generous wounds, he breathed his 
last in benedictions on his faithful, brave division. We lost, 
besides major general baron de Kalb, many excellent officers, 
and among them lieutenant colonel Potterfield, whose pro- 
mise of future greatness had endeared him to the whole army. 

General Washington, many years after, on a visit to Cam- 
den inquired for the grave of De Kalb. After looking on it 
awhile, with a countenance njarked with thought, he breathed 
a deep sigh, and exclaimed, "so there lies the brave De Kalb; 
the generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight 
our battles, and to water with his blood the tree of our liberty, 
Would to God he had lived to share its fruits!" 

On the 14th of Octoher, 1780, congress resolved, that a 
monument should be erected to his memory, in the town of 
Annapolis, in the state of Maryland, with the following in= 
scription: 

Sacred to the memory of the 

BARON DE KALB, 

Knight of the royal order of Military Merit, 

Brigadier of the armies of France, 

and 

MAJOR GENERAL 

In the service of the United States of America. 
Having served with honour and reputation, 

For three years, 
He gave a last and glorious proof of his at- 
tachment to the liberties of mankind, 
And the cause of America, 
In the action near Camden, in the state of South Carolina. 
On the 16th of August, 1780; 
Where, leading on the troops of the 
Maryland and Delaware lines, 
Against superior numbers, 
And animating them by his example, 

To deeds of valour, 

He was pierced with many wounds, 

And on the nineteenth following expired, 

In the 48th year of his age. 

THE CONGRESS 

Of the United States of America, 

In gratitude to his zeal, services and merit, 

Have erected this monument, 

36 



282 KENNARB— KIRKWOOD. 

KENNARD, Nathaniel, at the commencement of the war 
of the revolution, entered as a volunteer in one of the first 
regiments in Massachusetts, for the term of one year. At 
the expiration of that engagement, he entered on board a pri- 
vate armed vessel ; was captured, carried to England, and 
kept in close confinement at the Mill prison for two years and 
a quarter, being encouraged with no other prospect, than a 
still protracted confsncment, a termination of it by being 
hanged as a rebel. Thence he was sent to France in a cartel, 
where on the 20th April, 1779, he entered on board the Bon 
Homme Richard, under the celebrated John Paul Jones, and 
was with him in some of the most desperate enterprises in 
which that commander was engaged. From that vessel he 
was put on board a prize and ordered for France. He was 
again captured and carried into Hull in the north of England, 
transported to Spithead, put on board the Unicorn frigate and 
compelled to do duty until, at the eminent hazard of his life, 
he escaped in the Island of Jamaica. Thence he returned to 
America, a little before the close of the war. After the peace 
of 5 83, he engaged in the merchant service and continued a 
reputable ship master until near the commencement of the late 
war, when he was appointed by government to the command 
of a Revenue Cutter and continued in the same to the close 
of the war. After that period, until his death, he was employ- 
ed as an Inspector of the Customs at Portsmouth. 

He died June 24th, 1823, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
aged sixty eight years. 

KIRKWOOD, Robert, a brave and meritorious officer 
of the Delaware line, in the army of the revolution, whose 
rharacter and services have not received that notice to which 
they are entitled. We embrace, therefore, with pleasure, the 
opportunity, so far as it lies in our power, to preserve the 
memory of one, who, though from accident, not elevated to 
conspicuous rank, nor hitherto decorated with eminent histo- 
rical distinction, was the pride of his native state, and an or- 
nament to the army that defended American independence. 
We doubt not there are many that held subordinate stations 
in the army of the revolution, who have not received that meed 
of renown which they merited; and there can be no task more 
delightful to a grateful posterity, nor more worthy of a pat- 
riot, than to search out the rolls of honorahle exploit, and to 
promulgate it to our country. Whether we consider the in- 
trinsic gallantry of our revolutionary heroes and statesmen, 
the sufferings they endured, or the inestimable value of the 
blessings they obtained, no nation has prouder examples to 
appeal to than the American people; no nation was ever called 
on by stronger obligationsiof gratitude, to honor their cha- 
racters and to consecrate their memories. 



KIRKWOOD. 283 

Robert Kirkwood was a native of the state of Delaware. 
He was born in Newcastle county, near the village of New- 
ark, celebrated for an excellent academy, in which he receiv- 
ed a classical education. On the termination of his literary 
studies, he engaged in farming, and continued his agricultu- 
ral pursuits until hostilities took place between Great Britain 
and the colonies. In January, 1776, when it became obvious 
that the war would be serious and bloody, when uncondition- 
al submission to absolute power or resistance, were the alter- 
natives, the intelligent and patriotic mind of Kirkwood did not 
hesitate as to the proper course. He entered as lieutenant in 
the regiment of his native state, commanded by colonel Haz- 
let. and with it joined the army under Washington at New- 
York. He was present throughout the campaign at Long 
Island and its neighborhood, and partook in the disasters that 
ensued from the misfortunes of our troops in that quarter. 
On Washington's return to the Jersies, when victory was re- 
called to the American standard at Trenton and Princeton, 
he participated in his country's triumphs. In the engagement 
at Princeton, colonel Hazlet fell, deeply lamented; and the 
year's enlistment of his men being expired, the regiment was 
re -organized early in 1777. under colonel Hall, since govern- 
or of Delaware. Kirkwood now received the commission of 
captain in this regiment, and served as such throughout the 
campaigns of 1777, '78 and '79, being concerned in every 
battle of importance fought during these jears. 

In 1780, general Gates took with him the Delaware regi- 
ment and the Maryland line, to South Carolina, and they were 
actively employed under the command of lieutenant colonel 
Vaughan and major Patton, at the battle of Camden, in 
which general Gates sustained a serious reverse of fortune, 
and the American army was totally defeated. In this disas- 
ter the Delaware regiment was reduced from eight to two 
companies, containing together about 195 men, the command- 
ing officers, with the greater part of the regiment, being made 
prisoners by the British. The two companies that remained 
continued under the command of captains Kirkwood and Jac- 
quet, the latter of whom yet lives near Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, beloved and esteemed for his virtues and patriotism. 
Under these officers the remains of the regiment served until 
the close of the war: and when the peculiar circumstances of 
this corps are considered, the reason will be discovered why 
an officer so meritorious as captain Kirkwood, was not pro- 
moted, notwithstanding promotions as high as colonels were 
made in the lines of several states. The state of Delaware 
had but one regiment in the army; and as it was expected 
from time to time, that colonel Vaughan and major Patton, or 



284 KIRKWOOD. 

both, would be exchanged, Kirkwood could not be promoted 
in the line of this state; and in the lines of other states promo- 
tions took place among themselves. Besides, the regiment 
was so reduced in numbers, as not to require an officer of a 
higher rank than captain. In another line, or under different 
circumstances, there can be no doubt Kirkvvood's gallantry, 
zeal, and uniform devotion to the cause, would have been re- 
warded with a higher rank, and a more conspicuous standing 
in the eye of the nation. 

In the southern campaign the two companies were attached 
as light infantry to Lee's celebrated, legion, and Lee placed 
great confidence in them. In the battles of the Cowpens, in 
which the corps of the marauding Tarleton was cut to pieres; 
at Guilford, where lord Cornwallis' army received a shock 
from which it never recovered; at Camden, the Eutaws, and 
other places, where victory became familiar to the American 
soldier, Kirkwood exhibited his usual traits of gallantry. At 
the Cowpens, he was at the head of the first platoon of colo- 
nel Howard's memorable corps; and when the colonel was or- 
dered to charge, Kirkwood advanced ten paces in front of the 
corps, charged with his espontoon, and called to his men to 
come on! His example, said general Morgan, who used to 
relate this anecdote, inspired the whole corps. 

The southern army finally drove the enemy from the Caro- 
linas. taking successively nine of their forts or fortified places. 
Captain Kirkwood was always among the first in the enemy's 
lines or works, and repeatedly received the thanks and ap- 
plause of generals Greene, Morgan and Smalhvood. This 
distinguished enterprise achieved a high reputation for him- 
self, and acquired, by the co-operation of his brother officers 
and soldiers, a peculiar renown for the gallant remnant of 
the Delaware regiment. At the termination of the war, 
through the solicitation and influence of general Washington, 
he was brevetted a major, and he returned to his native state, 
where he was cordially received, and gratefully welcomed, 
by bis numerous friends and admiring fellow citizens. 

Major Kirkwood afterwards emigrated to the state of Ohio, 
and settled on his lands nearly opposite to Wheeling, in the 
Indian country. This was an adventurous attempt, and would 
have probably intimidated any but the firm mind of a man to 
whom danger was familiar: for he was almost the only white 
person on that side of the river. He had left his family in 
Delaware, and commenced the building of a log cabin. It 
was not long, howe\ er, before bis military skill and intrepidity 
were wanting to defend his life and property. The Indians 
approached at night with design to attack him. Being assist- 
ed by an officer and some soldiers, who had crossed the river 



KIRKWOOD. 285 

from Wheeling, he ordered them to He down, and instructed 
them when the Indians advanced to rise up suddenly, fire all 
at once, and then rush on. The stratagem was executed, and 
succeeded: the Indians advanced boldly, not suspecting dan- 
ger, and several being killed, the rest fled. 

But his country's danger once more summoned him, and for 
the last time, to the field; and the veteran soldier obeyed the 
call with alacrity. The whole West was in alarm from the 
incursions of the savages, and an army being raised by the 
government of the United States to repel them, and placed 
under the command of general St. Clair, Kirkwood resumed 
his sword as the oldest captain of the oldest regiment of the 
United States. In the decisive defeat of St. Clair, by the Mi- 
ami Indians, on the 4th November, 1792, Kirkwood fell on 
the field of battle, fighting with his usual heroism at the head 
of his detachment. It was the thirty -third time he had risked 
his life for his country, and he died, as he had lived, brave, 
patriotic, and full of honour. 

Major Kirkwood's character and qualities are always 
spoken of, by those who knew him, in exalted language. Ge- 
neral Lee, in his memoirs, mentions him in terms of approba- 
tion and distinction. Colonel Jacob Slough, of Lancaster 
Pennsylvania, who was his intimate associate and brother of- 
ficer in St. Clair's army, in a letter to his friend, a represen- 
tative in congress from the state of Maryland, written in 
May, 1 824, states some particulars relative to his death. 

" I have received the letter you honoured me with," says 
colonel Slough, " on the subject of the services and virtues of 
my much-lamented friend, Kirkwood, and will, with pleasure-, 
narrate them. Having heard many of the officers of the re- 
volution, who knew him, when he belonged to Sinallwood's, 
afterwards Howard's, regiment, speak of him in the most ex- 
alted terms, I became much prepossessed in his favour, long 
before I knew him; and when I found him a captain in gene- 
ral St. Clair's army, I took pains to become acquainted with 
him. I soon discovered that this desire was mutual, and in a 
little time we became fast friends; so much so, that when not 
on duty, we were generally together. I passed many nights 
with him on guard, and benefitted greatly from his experience, 
as a man of honour, a soldier, and a police officer. Captain 
Kirkwood had been sick for several days previous to the 4th 
November, but was always ready for duty. At the dawn of 
day that morning, after the advanced guard was attacked and 
driven in, I saw him cheering his men, and by his example, 
inspiring confidence in all who saw him. When he received 
the wound, I cannot say. I was at a distance from him. and 
busily engaged in attending to my own duty. About eight 



286 KNOWLTON. 

o'clock. I received a severe wound in my right arm, just 
above the elbow. As it bled very much, and our surgeon was 
in the rear, I was advised to go and have it dressed. On my 
way to rejoin my company, I found my friend Kirkwood lying 
against the root of a tree, shot through the abdomen, and 
in great pain. After calling to the surgeon, and commending 
him to his care, I saw no more of him until the retreat was 
ordered. I then ran to him, and proposed having him carried 
off. He said no. " I am dying ; save yourself if you can, 
and leave me to my fate; but as the last act of friendship you 
can confer on me, blow my brains out. I see the Indians 
coming, and God knows how they will treat me!" You can 
better judge of my feelings than I can describe them. I shook 
him by the hand, and left him to his fate." 

Tli us fell by the hands of the savages, the hero who had sur- 
vived the most eventful battles of the revolution, where he had 
faced danger and death in every shape. But his example will, 
we trust, long live for the imitation of posterity, and his name 
merits a portion of that fame which it belongs to Americans 
to award to those by whom the revolution was achieved. 

KNOWLTON, Thomas, a brave and distinguished officer 
in the revolutionary war, was a native of Ash ford, Connect- 
icut. He was among the first who rallied round the standard 
of independence, giving the country that warlike attitude ne- 
cessary to sustain it. At the battle of Long Island, and in 
the memorable retreat of the American army to New York, 
in August, 1776, he commanded a regiment of light infantry, 
which formed the van of the American army. It was to co- 
lonel Knowlton, to whom general Washington applied, to de- 
vise some mode of obtaining information of the strength and 
future movements of the British army. Colonel Knowlton 
communicated the views and wishes of the commander in chief 
to captain Nathan Hale, an officer in his regiment, and whose 
ardent patriotism, and bold and adventurous spirit, was well 
known. Captain Hale, as has already been mentioned in our 
preceding pages, immediately offered himself a volunteer in 
this difficult and hazardous enterprise. It has been already 
mentioned, he fell a martyr to the liberties of his country, and 
no officer in the American army lamented his early fall more 
than his friend colonel Knowlton. He, however, did not long 
survive his young friend Hale. In September, 1776, a skir- 
mish took place between two battalions of light infantry and 
Highlanders, commanded by brigadier general Leslie, and 
some detachments from the American army, under the com- 
mand of colonel Knowlton, and major Leitch, of Virginia. 
The colonel was killed, and the major badly wounded. The 
officers and men fought with great bravery, and fairly beat 



KNOX. 287 

their adversaries from the field. Thus fell the hrave colonel 
Knowlton, who had early embarked in the revolutionary con- 
test, and sacrificed his life for the cause of liberty and his 
country, in which he had engaged with patriotic ardour and 
chivalrous heroism. 

KNOX, Henry, major-general in the American army du- 
ring the revolutionary war, was born in Boston, July 25, 1750. 
His parents were of Scottish descent. Before our revolutionary 
war, which afforded an opportunity for the developement of 
his patriotic feelings and military talents, he was engaged in 
a bookstore. By means of his early education, and this hon- 
ourable employment, he acquired a taste for literary pursuits, 
which lie retained through life. 

Young Knox gave early proofs of his attachment to the cause 
of freedom and his country. It will be recollected, that, in 
various parts of the state, volunteer companies were formed 
in 1774, with a view to awaken the martial spirit of the peo- 
ple, and as a sort of preparation for the contest which was ap- 
prehended. Knox was an officer in a military corps of this 
denomination ; and was distinguished by his activity and dis- 
cipline. There is evidence of his giving uncommon attention 
to military tactics at this period, especially to the branch of 
enginery and artillery, in which he afterwards so greatly ex- 
celled. 

It is also to be recorded, in proof of his predominant love 
of country, and its liberties, that he had before this time, be- 
come connected with a very respectable family, which adhered 
to the measures of the British ministry, and had received great 
promises both of honour and profit, if he would follow the 
standard of his sovereign. Even at this time his talents were 
too great to be overlooked ; and it was wished, if possible, to 
prevent him from attaching himself to the cause of the provin- 
cials. He was one of those whose departure from Boston was 
interdicted by governor Gage, soon after the affair of Lexing- 
ton. The object of Gage was probably not so much to keep 
these eminent characters as hostages, as to deprive the Amer- 
icans of their talents and services. In June, however, he 
found means to make his way through the British lines, to the 
American army at Cambridge. He was here received with 
joyful enthusiasm : for his knowledge of the military art, and 
his zeal for the liberties of the country, were admitted by all. 
The provincial congress then convened at Watertown, imme- 
diately sent for him, and entrusted solely to him the erection 
of such fortresses as might be necessary to prevent a sudden 
attack from the enemy in Boston. 

The little army of militia, collected in and about Cambridge, 
in the spring of 1775 7 soon after the battle of Lexington, was 



288 KNOX. 

without order and discipline. All was insubordination and 
confusion. General Washington did not arrive to take com- 
mand of the troops until after this period. In this state of 
things, Knox declined any particular commission, though he 
readily directed his attention and exertions to the objects which 
congress requested. 

It was in the course of this season, and before he had for- 
mally undertaken the command of the artillery, that Knox 
volunteered his services to goto St. John's, in the province of 
Canada, and to bring thence to Cambridge, all the heav> or- 
dinance and military stores. This hazardous enterprize he 
effected in a manner which astonished all who knew the diffi- 
culty of the service. 

Soon after his return from this fortunate expedition, he 
took command of the whole corps of the artillery of our army, 
and retained it until the close of the war. To him the coun- 
try was chiefly indebted for the organization of the artillery 
and ordnance department. He gave it both form and efficien- 
cy ; and it was distinguished alike for its expertness of disci- 
pline and promptness of execution. 

At the battle of Monmouth, in New Jersey, in June, 1778, 
general Knox exhibited new proofs of his bravery and skill. 
Under his personal and immediate direction, the artillery gave 
great effect to the success of that memorable day. It will be 
remembered, that the British troops were much more numer- 
ous than ours; and that general Lee was charged with keep- 
ing back the battalion he commanded from the field of battle. 
The situation of our army was most critical. General Wash- 
ington was personally engaged in rallying and directing the 
troops in .the most dangerous positions. The affair terminat- 
ed in favour of our gallant army ; and generals Knox and 
Wayne received the particular commendations of the com- 
uiander-in-chicf, the following day, in the orders issued on the 
occasion. After mentioning the good conduct and bravery of 
general Wayne, and thanking the gallant officers and men who 
distinguished themselves, general Washington says, "he can 
with pleasure inform general Knox, and the officers of the ar- 
tillery, that the enemy have done them the justice to ac- 
knowledge that no artillery could be better served than 
ours." 

When general Greene was offered the arduous command of 
the southern department, he replied to the commander-in- 
chief, " Knox is the man for this difficult undertaking; all 
obstacles vanish before him ; his resources are infinite." — 
"True," replied Washington, " and therefore I cannot part 
with him." 

No officer in the army, it is believed, more largely shared 



KNOX!. 289 

in the affection and confidence of the illustrious Washington. 
In every action where he appeared, Knox was with him: at 
every council of war, he hore a part. In truth, he possessed 
talents aud qualities, which could not fail to recommend him 
to a man of the discriminating mind of Washington, — 
He was intelligent, brave, patriotic, humane, honourable. 
Washington soon became sensible of his merits, and bestowed 
on him his esteem, his friendship, and confidence. 

On the resignation of major-general Benjamin Lincoln, 
Knox was appointed secretary of the war department, by 
congress, during the period of the convention, xind when the 
federal government was organized in 1789, he was designated 
by president Washington for the same honourable and respon- 
sible office. 

This office he held for about five years; enjoying the confi- 
dence of the president, and esteemed by all his colleagues in 
the administration of the federal government. Of his talents, 
his integrity, and his devotion to the interests and prosperity 
of his country, no one had ever any reason to doubt. In 
1794, he retired from office to a private station, followed by the 
esteem and love of all who had been honoured with his ac- 
quaintance. 

At this time he removed with his family to Thomaston, on 
St. George's river, in the district of Maine, two hundred 
miles north-east of Boston. He was possessed of extensive 
landed property in that part of the country, which had for- 
merly belonged to general Waldo, the maternal grandfather of 
Mrs. Knox. 

At the request of his fellow-citizens, though unsolicited on 
his part, he filled a seat at the council-board of Massachu- 
setts, during several years of his residence at Thomaston ; 
and the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by 
the president and trustees of Dartmouth college. 

The amiable virtues of the citizen and the man, were as 
conspicuous in the character of general Knox, as the more 
brilliant and commanding talents of the hero and statesman. 
The afflicted and destitute were sure to share of his compas- 
sion and charity. "His heart was made of tenderness;" and 
he often disregarded his own wishes and convenience, in kind 
endeavors to promote the interest and happiness of his friends. 

The possession of extensive property and high office, is too 
apt to engender pride and insolence. But general Knox was 
entirely exempt, both in disposition and manners, from this 
common frailty. Mildness ever beamed in his countenance; 
"on his tongue were the words of kindness;" and equanimity 
and generosity always marked his intercourse with his fellow 
men. The poor he never oppressed: the more obscure citi- 



290 KOSCIUSCO. 

zen, we believe, could never complain of injustice at his hands. 
With all classes of people he dealt on the most fair and hon- 
orable principles, and would sooner submit to a sacrifice of 
property himself, than injure or defraud another. 

In his person general Knox was above the common stature; 
of noble and commanding form; of manners elegant, concili- 
ating and dignified. 

To the amiable qualities and moral excellencies of general 
Knox, which have already been enumerated, we may justly 
add his prevailing disposition to piety. With much of the 
manners of the gay world, and opposed, as he was, to all su- 
perstition and bigotry, he might not appear to tbose, ignor- 
ant of his better feelings, to possess religious and devout af- 
fections. But to his friends it was abundantly evident that 
he cherished exalted sentiments of devotion and piety to God. 
He was a firm believer in the natural and moral attributes of 
the Deity, and his overruling and all-prevailing providence. 

General Knox died at Thomaston, October 25, 1806, aged 
56 years. His death was occasioned by swallowing the bone 
of a chicken. 

KOSCIUSCO, Thaddeus, descended from an ancient fami- 
ly in the palatinate of Brescia, Lithuania proper, received the 
rudiments of his education in the military academy founded 
by Stanislaus Augustus. The commandant of that academy, 
prince Adam Czartorski, soon remarked the uncommon mili- 
tary genius of the youth, together with his predilection for the 
science of war, and in consequence, sent him into France to 
complete his studies. To the latest moments of his life, Kos- 
ciusco gratefully remembered the obligations which he owed 
to the bounty of his benefactor. The abject, impotent and 
submissive situation of Poland, at that period, engendered de- 
jection and despair in his useful breast. He left his country 
and repaired to a foreign land, there to fight the battles of 
independence, when he found that her standard would not be 
raised in the land of his birth. 

When very young, he was informed by the voice of fame, 
that the standard of liberty had been erected in America; that 
an insulted and oppressed people had determined to be free, or 
perish in the attempt. His ardent and generous mind caught, 
with enthusiasm, the holy flame, and from that moment he be- 
came the devoted soldier of liberty. 

His rank in the American army afforded him no opportuni- 
ty greatly to distinguish himself. But he was remarked 
throughout his service, for all the qualities which adorn the 
human character. His heroic valor in the field, could only 
be equalled by his moderation and affability in the walks of 
private life. He was idolized by the soldiers for his bravery, 



KOSCIUSCO. 291 

and beloved and respected by the officers for the goodness of 
his heart, and the great qualities of his mind. 

As the companion of the immortal Washington, he fought 
bravely from the Hudson to the Potomac, from the shores of 
the Atlantic to the lakes of Canada. He patiently endured 
incredible fatigue ; he acquired renown ; and, what was infi- 
nitely more valuable in his estimation, he acquired the love 
and gratitude of a disenthraled nation. The flag of the Uni- 
ted States waved in triumph over the American forts, and the 
great work of liberation was finished ere Kosciusco returned 
to his native country. 

Contributing greatly, by his exertions, to the establishment 
of the independence of America, he might have remained, and 
shared the blessings it dispensed, under the protection of a 
chief who loved and honoured him, and in the bosom of a 
grateful and affectionate people. 

Kosciusco had. however, other views. It is not known that, 
until the period I am speaking of, he had formed any distinct 
idea of what could, or indeed what ought, to be done for his 
own. But in the revolutionary war he drank deeply of the 
principles which produced it. In his conversations with the 
intelligent men of our country, he acquired new views of the 
science of government and the rights of man. He had seen 
too that to be free it was only necessary that a nation should 
will it, and to be happy it was only necessary that a nation 
should be free. And was it not possible to procure these bles- 
sings for Poland ? For Poland, the country of his birth, which 
had a claim to all his efforts, to all his services? That unhappy 
nation groaned under a complication of evils which has scarce- 
ly a parallel in history. The mass of the people were the ab- 
ject, slaves of the nobles. The nobles, torn into factions, were 
alternately the instruments and the victims of their powerful 
and ambitious neighbours. By intrigue, corruption, and 
force, some of its fairest provinces had been separated from 
the republic, and the people, like beasts, transferred to foreign 
despots, who were again watching for a favorable moment for 
a second dismemberment. To regenerate a people thus deba- 
sed : to obtain for a country thus circumstanced, the blessings 
of liberty and independence, was a work of as much difficulty 
as danger. But to a mind like Kosciusco's, the difficulty and 
danger of an enterprise served as stimulants to undertake it. 

Immediately after his return to his native country, he was 
unanimously appointed generalissimo of Poland. In the strug- 
gles of the Polish army against their oppressors, Kosciusco 
often led them to victory. His army performed prodigies, 
and charged, with effect, the veteran Russians and Prussians. 
In consequence of the treachery of one of Kosciusco's ofii- 



292 LACEY. 

eers, who covered with a detachment the advance of the army, 
ahandoned his position to the enemy, and retreated, the Poles 
were defeated with great slaughter. The conflict was terrible. 
Kosciusco fell, covered with wounds, hut still recovered. He 
was conveyed by the orders of Catharine, the empress of 
Russia, to the dungeons of St. Petersburg, where he remain- 
ed until her son Alexander came to the throne. One of his 
first acts was to restore the brave Kosciusco to liberty. When 
he was liberated, he turned his eyes to that country, where, 
in his youth, he had Fought for liberty and independence. He 
embarked for America, and landed at Philadelphia. The 
members of congress, then in session, his friends and acquain- 
tances, and the citizens generally, hailed his arrival with 
pleasure. The people surrounded the carriage and accom- 
panied him to his lodgings. After some time, he visited the 
shores of Europe once more. He went to Switzerland, where 
he soon after died. 

LACEY. John, an active officer, and zealous whig of the 
Revolution, was born in Rucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 
4th day of February, 1755. His great-grandfather emigrated 
from the Isle of Wight, England, and was among the earliest 
of those who followed the fortunes of William Penn, in the 
settlement of Pennsylvania. The family, from the first emi- 
grant down to the. subject of this biographical notice, were all 
educated in the religious principles of the Society of Friends, 
or Quakers; and were chiefly devoted to the peaceful pursuits 
of agriculture. 

Previously to the American revolution, the opportunities of 
education were very limited in Pennsylvania; especially in 
the country schools; and in addition to this, the Quakers were 
considerably prejudiced against giving much school learning 
to their children. The joint operation of these causes pre- 
vented Mr. Lacey, while young, from receiving more than the 
rudiments of an imperfect English education; a defect which 
he, subseqently, often felt and regretted; and which he endea- 
voured to supply, as far as possible, by his own industry and 
application to private studies. His active mind soon perceiv- 
ed the want of that nurture which it is the business of well- 
ordered schools to afford; and, to the latest hour of his life, he 
earnestly deprecated that neglect of the expanding faculties 
of youth, which it had been his own misfortune to expe- 
rience. 

At the early age of fourteen years, he was taken from 
school, and employed occasionally on the farm; but more ge- 
nerally in attending to a mill, which his father owned. Here 
he devoted his leisure moments to reading and study ; and 
with the aid of borrowed books, procured among his friends 



LACEY. £93 

of the neighborhood, he added very considerably to his stock 
of useful knowledge. In this manner his time was princi- 
pally occupied, until the disputes between the colonies and 
Great Britain assumed a serious aspect. Every one took his 
side, on that momentous occasion; and many of Mr. Lacey's 
nearest connexions, in common with the greater portion of 
the sect to which they belonged, inclined to the side of the 
mother country: but he, young, enterprising, and full of pa- 
triotic ardour, speedily became indignant at the conduct and 
pretensions of Britain, and warmly espoused the cause of the 
colonies. Animated by the noble feelings which roused the 
American whigs to action, he immediately united with those 
who prepared to resist the operations of the haughty oppres- 
sor. A volunteer association of young men was formed, in 
the county, to learn the use of arms, of which corps he was 
unanimously chosen captain. Several youths of the Quaker 
society joined the company, at first; but when the meetings 
interfered, they all fell back, except Mr. Lacey, who was 
soon after excommunicated for persisting in the cause. Al- 
though attached to the society, in which he had been educat- 
ed, by strong and numerous ligaments, yet the impetus of 
his feelings, at that eventful crisis, quickly carried him be- 
yond the limits prescribed by the submissive tenets of the 
sect. 

At the recommendation of the congress, several battalions 
of troops were ordered to be raised in Pennsylvania, for the 
defence of the country and its liberties; and Mr. Lacey receiv- 
ed a captain's commission from congress, dated the 5th of 
January, 1776. The commission reached him on the 20th of 
the month; and such was his zeal, diligence and good fortune, 
that he enlisted his complement of men, (mostly farmers' sons 
of the neighborhood,) by the 12th of February, following. 
Captain Lacey's company was attached to the 4th battalion 
in the Pennsylvania line, commanded by colonel Anthony 
Wayne, and was directed to rendezvous with the other troops 
at Chester, on the river Delaware; for which place he com- 
menced his march on the 12th of February. From Chester, they 
were all soon afterwards ordered to New York, and from thence 
towards Canada. About this time, a misunderstanding unfor- 
tunately arose between colonel Wayne and captain Lacey, 
which rendered the situation of the latter exceedingly irksome 
and unpleasant; but he, nevertheless, continued faithfully to 
serve out the residue of an arduous campaign, during which 
he was selected by general Sullivan to go express into Cana- 
da, with communications to general Arnold; a hazardous 
expedition, which was accomplished to the entire satisfaction 
of the commanding general. When the army went into win- 



294 LACEY. 

ter quarters, captain Lacey sent in his resignation to the coun 
cil of safety, accompanied by a detailed statement of his rea- 
sons for a procedure so little congenial with his wishes and 
original views; but which existing circumstances, in his opi- 
nion, imperiously required him to adopt. His connexions, 
who were generally inimical to the revolution, hearing of his 
resignation, and the reasons which induced it, seized the oc- 
casion to urge him to abandon the pursuit of arms, and the 
cause in which he was engaged: but he was too warmly de- 
vote'.! to both, to listen to their entreaties, or to be a passive 
spectator of the contest. 

The legislature of Pennsylvania, under the new constitu- 
tion, was in session at Philadelphia, during the ensuing win- 
ter, and was busily engaged in acts to organize the govern- 
ment. Among others, a militia law was passed on the 17th 
of March, 1777, by which an important tribunal was estab- 
lished in each county, composed of a lieutenant and four sub- 
lieutenants, with the rank of colonel and lieutenant-colonels, 
respectively. These officers were to hold courts, to class and 
district the militia, to organize them into regiments and com- 
panies, to hold the elections for officers, to call out the classes, 
find substitutes in the places of delinquents, and to assess and 
cause the assessments on delinquents to be collected, and paid 
into the state treasury; with other extensive duties enume- 
rated in the act. Mr. Lacey was appointed one of the sub- 
lieutenants of Bucks county, on the 22d of March, 1777; and 
having acquired some knowledge of military affairs, during 
the campaign of 1776, was one of the most active and effi- 
cient in the prosecution of the business. Having succeeded 
in organizing the militia of Bucks, Mr. Lacey carried in the 
returns of the officers, when he was complimented by the ex- 
ecutive council, as being the first who had complied with the 
requisitions of the law. The militia of the district in which 
Mr. Lacey resided, chose him for their lieutenant colonel, and 
as the appointment did not interfere with his duties of sub- 
lieutenant, he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel on the 
6th of May, 1777, and continued to act in both capacities. 

When the British army got possession of Philadelphia, af- 
ter the battle of Brandywine, a draft was made on the mili- 
tia of Bucks county, for the purpose of relieving those whose 
term of service was about to expire; and lieutenant colonel 
Lacey, ever anxious and ready for active employment, soli- 
cited and obtained the command of a regiment, from the offi- 
cer whose turn it was to take the field. Having collected 
between three and four hundred men, he marched from New- 
town, and joined general Potter's brigade, at Whitemarsh, in 
the beginning of November, 1777. Whilst on this tour of 



LACEY. 293 

duty, he was engaged in frequent skirmishes with parties of the 
enemy, particularly in one of some severity near the Gulf 
mills, on Schuylkill, from which he had a narrow escape, in 
consequence of his perseverance in rallying and encouraging 
the troops, in the face of a superior force. General Washing- 
ton, in his orders the next day, expressly complimented colo- 
nel Lacey's regiment, for its good conduct on the occasion. 
After this affair, colonel Lacey commanded a detachment of 
militia on the eastern side of the Schuylkill, until the close of 
the campaign. His active exertions in suppressing inter- 
course with the British, and breaking up the iniquitous traffic 
of their adherents, had by this time so strongly excited the 
hatred of the tories and disaffected, that they menaced hira 
with personal vengeance: but a spirit so determined, and de- 
voted to the service, was not to be influenced by such conside- 
rations. Their threats were despised, and their denuncia- 
tions disregarded. 

About the time when colonel Lacey was preparing to re- 
tire, at the close of this tour of duty, he received the appoint- 
ment of brigadier general, dated the 9th of January, 1778, 
and was ordered immediately to relieve general Potter. His 
commission was enclosed in the following letter from the se- 
cretary of the executive council: 

"Lancaster, January 9, 1778. 
" Sir, 

"Enclosed is a commission authorising you to act as a 
brigadier general of the militia of this state. I congratulate 
you on this appointment, which, at the same time that it does 
you honor, in acknowledging your merit as an officer, affords 
a reasonable hope for benefit to the public, by calling ) on in- 
to the field in an important station. 1 sincerely wish you suc- 
cess, and am with great respect, 

"Your very humble servant, 

"Ty. MATLACK, Secretary. 
"To brigadier general Lacey, at Camp." 

General Lacey was not yet twenty- three years of age, when 
he was invested with this important and very arduous com- 
mand. On receiving the appointment, the responsibilities of 
which might have shaken the resolution of a more experienced 
officer, he repaired to his post, and had a most harrassing duty 
to perform, on the lines, while the British army occupied 
Philadelphia. The utmost vigilance was required, to cut off 
the intercourse of the tories with the city, and also to watch 
the movements of the enemy's parties, who denounced ven- 
geance against the new general, and declared they would have 
him, dead or alive. He was incessantly employed in this ser- 
vice, until the middle of May, at the head of a fluctuating 



296 LACEY. 

body of militia, whose force sometimes amounted to five hun- 
dred men, but was frequently reduced to less than half that 
number. On the 1st of May, owing to the misconduct of the 
officer commanding the scouts, his camp was surprised, near 
the Billet, (now village of Hatborough.) by a strong detach- 
ment of the British, consisting, according to their own ac- 
count, "of four hundred light infantry, three hundred rang- 
ers, and a party of light dragoons," under the command of 
colonel Abercrombie. He was assailed on all sides , about day- 
light, and was, for a short time, in a most perilous situation. 
He, however, determined on a bold expedient, and forming his 
little band with all possible despatch, he fought his way 
through the enemy, with the loss of twenty six killed, and an 
inconsiderable number of wounded and prisoners. The 
wounded, in this affair, were treated with the most wanton and 
shameful cruelty, by the British. Some of them were thrown 
into buckwheat-straw, and the straw set on fire while they were 
yet alive; and others who had been disabled by musket balls, 
were afterwards deliberately hacked and mangled with cut- 
lasses and bayonets, for the mere purpose as it would seem, 
of venting the rage and chagrin of the barbarians, at not hav- 
ing succeeded more completely in the object of their expedi- 
tion. The militia behaved with great firmness, on this occa- 
sion, which enabled their commander to extricate them from 
their dangerous position, with a comparatively moderate loss. 
A letter from council to general Lacey, dated May 16, says, 
" your conduct is highly approved, and your men have justly 
acquired great reputation by their bravery.'* 

A number of hazardous enterprizes in the vicinity of the 
enemy's outposts, requiring great address and dexterity in 
the execution, were undertaken by general Lacey, at the re- 
quest of general Washington ; and were performed, for the 
most part, with entire success, and always to the satisfaction 
of the latter. A most unpleasant duty was also imposed, by 
the comander in chief, upon general Lacey, to be performed 
amongst his neighbours and relations; which was, the derange- 
ment of their grist mills, and the destruction of grain, forage, 
and other private property, with a view to distress the enemy, 
and prevent him from drawing supplies from that part of the 
country. This painful service was executed, reluctantly, in- 
deed, but with such rigid impartiality in all cases, that some 
of his connexions could hardly ever forgive him for it; not- 
withstanding he had acted under the peremptory orders of 
general Washington, who believed that the safety and best 
interests of the republic required the measure. 

After the British had evacuated Philadelphia, general Lacey 
was elected a member of the general assembly, from the county 



LAURENS. 297 

of Bucks, and took his seat in November, 1778. The year 
following he was elected to council, of which he was a mem- 
ber for the three succeeding years. In August, 1780, gene- 
ral Washington being apprehensive that the enemy intended to 
aim another blow at Pennsylvania, general Lacey was order- 
ed to Trenton, in New-Jersey, with a brigade of militia from 
the counties of Bucks and Berks; and by a correspondence 
with the president of council, he appears to have been in al- 
most continual service until October, 1781, when the militia 
were discharged, and the thanks of the council voted to them 
and their commander. 

During this command general Lacey married a daughter 
of colonel Thomas Reynolds, of New-Jersey, and shortly af- 
terwards removed to that state and settled at the village of 
New-Mills, in Burlington county, where he became largely 
concerned in iron works. He was, for many years, an active 
and useful citizen of his adopted state, having been a judge 
and justice of the county where he resided, and also a mem- 
ber of the legislature. In the latter part of his life he was 
much afflicted with gout, to which disease he fell a victim, on 
the 17th of February, 1814, aged 59 years. 

General Lacey is represented by all Who knew him and 
served witli him in the revolution, as having been an officer 
of a remarkable fine, martial appearance, and of the most de- 
termined and enterprizing character. All his letters, writ- 
ten under every difficulty and pressure of the times, breathe 
the most ardent spirit of patriotism and inflexible devotion to 
the cause of his country's liberty and independence. 
/ LAURENS, Henry, was born in Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, in the year 1724. He took an early part in opposing the 
arbitrary claims of Great Britain, at the commencement of the 
American revolution. When the provincial congress of Ca- 
rolina met in June, 1775, he was appointed its president; in 
which capacity he drew up a form of association, to be sign- 
ed by all the friends of liberty, which indicated a most deter- 
mined spirit. Being a member of the general congress, after 
the resignation of Hancock, he was appointed president of that 
illustrious body, in November, 1777. In 1780, he was de- 
puted to solicit a loan from Holland, and to negotiate at reaty 
with the United Netherlands ; but on his pasage, he was cap- 
tured by a British vessel, on the banks of Newfoundland. He 
threw his papers overboard, but they were recovered by a 
sailor. Being sent to England, he was committed to the tower, 
on the 6th of October, as a state prisoner, upon a charge of 
high treason. Here he was confined more than a year, and 
was treated with great severity, being denied, for the most 
part, all intercourse with his friends, and forbidden the use of 

38 



39» LAURENS. 

pen, ink, and paper. His capture occasioned no small em 
barrassment to the ministry. They dared not condemn him 
as a rebel, through fear of retaliation; and they were unwil- 
ling to release him, lest he should accomplish the object of 
his mission. The discoveries found in his papers, led to a war 
with Great Britain and Holland, and Mr. Adams was ap- 
pointed in his place to carry on the negotiation with the Uni- 
ted Provinces. 

Many propositions were then made to him, which were re- 
pelled with indignation. At length, news being received that 
his eldest son, a youth of such uncommon talents, exalted sen- 
timents, and prepossessing manners and appearance, that a 
romantic interest is still attached to his name, had been ap- 
pointed the special minister of congress to the French court, 
and was there urging the suit of Ids country, with winning elo- 
quence, the father was requested to write to his son, and urge 
his return to America; it being farther hinted, that, as he was 
held a prisoner, in the light of a rebel, his life should depend 
upon compliance. "My son is of age," replied the heroic fa- 
ther of an heroic, son, "and has a will of his own. I know him 
to be a man of honor. He loves me dearly, and would lay 
down his life to save mine; but I am sure that he would not 
sacrifice his honor to save my life, and I applaud him." This 
veteran was, not many months after, released, with a request 
from lord Shelburne that he would pass to the continent and 
assist in negotiating a peace between Great Britain and the 
free United States of America, and France their ally. 

Towards the close of the year 1781, his sufferings, which 
had, by that time, become well known, excited the utmost sym- 
pathy for himself, but kindled the warmest indignation against 
the authors of his cruel confinement. Every attempt to draw 
concessions from this inflexible patriot having proved more 
than useless, his enlargement was resolved upon, but difficul- 
ties arose as to the mode of effecting it. Pursuing the same 
high-minded course which he had at first adopted, and influ- 
enced by the noblest feelings of the heart, he obstinately re- 
fused his consent to any act which might imply a confession 
that he was a British subject, for as such he had been com- 
mitted on a charge of high treason. It was finally proposed 
to take bail for his appearance at the court of king's bench, 
and when the words of the recognizance, "our sovereign 
lord the king," were read to Mr. Laurens, he distinctly re- 
plied in open court, "not my sovereign!" With this decla- 
ration, he, with Messrs. Oswald and Anderson, as his secu- 
rities, were bound for his appearance at the next court of 
king's bench for Easter term, and for not departing without 
I^avc of the court, upon which he was immediately discharge 



LAURENS. 299 

ed. When the time appointed for his trial approached, he was 
not only exonerated from obligation to attend, but solicited by 
Jord Shelburneto depart for the continent to assist in a scheme 
for a pacification with America. The idea of being released, 
gratuitously, by the British government, sensibly moved him, 
for he had invariably considered himself as a prisoner of war. 
Possessed of a lofty sense of personal independence, and un- 
willing to be brought under the slightest obligation, he thus 
expressed himself, "I must not accept myself as a gift; and 
as congress once offered general Burgoyne for me, I have no 
doubt of their being now willing to offer earl Cornwallis for 
the same purpose." 

Close confinement in the tower for more than fourteen 
months, had shattered his constitution, and he was, ever af- 
terwards, a stranger to good health. As soon as his discharge 
was promulgated, lie received from congress a commission, 
appointing him one of their ministers for negotiating a peace 
with Great Britain. Arriving at Paris, in conjunction with 
Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, he signed the pre- 
liminaries of peace on the 30th of November, 1782, by which 
the independence of the United States was unequivocally ac- 
knowledged. Soon after this, Mr. Laurens returned to Ca- 
rolina. Entirely satisfied with the whole course of his con- 
duct while abroad, it will readily be imagined that his coun- 
trymen refused him no distinctions within their power to be- 
stow; but every solicitation to suffer himself to be elected go- 
vernor, member of congress, or of the legislature of the state, 
he positively withstood. When the project of a general con- 
vention for revising the federal bond of union, was under 
consideration, he was chosen, without his knowledge, one of 
its members, but he refused to serve. Retired from the world 
and its concerns, he found delight in agricultural experiments, 
in advancing the welfare of his children and dependants, and 
in attentions to the interest of his friends and fellow-citizens. 

He expired on the 8th of December, 1792, in the sixty-ninth 
year of his age. 

LAURENS, John, a brave officer in the revolutionary war, 
was the son of the preceding, and was sent to England for his edu- 
cation. He joined the army in the beginning of 1777, from which 
time he was foremost in danger. His first essay in arms was 
at Brandy wine. At the battle of Germantown, he exhibited 
prodigies of valour, in attempting to expel the enemy from 
Chew's house, and was severely wounded. He was engaged 
at Monmouth, and greatly increased his reputation at Rhode 
Island. At Coosawhatchie, defending the pass with a hand- 
ful of men, against the whole force of Prevost, he was again 
wounded, and was probably indebted for his life to thegallan- 



300 LAURENS. 

try of captain Wigg, who gave him his horse to carry him 
from the field, when incapable of moving, his own having 
been shot under him. He headed the light infantry, and was 
among the first to mount the British lines at Savannah ; 
and displayed the greatest activity, zeal and courage, dur- 
ing the siege of Charleston. He was present and distin- 
guished himself in every action of the army under general 
Washington, and was among the first, who entered the Bri- 
tish lines at York town. Early in 1781, while he held 
the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was selected by congress on 
a special mission to France to solicit a loan of money, and to 
procure military stores. He arrived in March and returned 
in August, having been so successful in the execution of his 
commission, that congress passed a vote of thanks for his ser- 
vices. Such was his despatch, that in three days after he re- 
paired to Philadelphia, he finished his business with congress, 
and immediately afterwards rejoined the American army. On 
the twenty seventh of August, 1782, in opposing a foraging 
party of the British, near Combahee river, in South Carolina, 
he was mortally wounded, and he died at the age of twenty 
seven years. 

His gallantry in action was highly characteristic of his love 
of fame. The post of danger was his favourite station. His 
polite and easy behaviour, insured distinction in every so- 
ciety. The warmth of his heart gained the affection of his 
friends, his sincerity their confidence and esteem. An insult 
to his friend he regarded as a wound to his own honour. Such 
an occurrence led him to engage in a personal contest with 
general Charles Lee, who had spoken disrespectfully of gen- 
eral Washington. The veteran, who was wounded on the oc- 
casion, being asked; "How Laurens had conducted him- 
self?" replied: ">l could have hugged the noble boy, he pleased 
me so." 

The following eulogium on the character of lieutenant 
colonel Laurens, we copy from Marshall's life of Wash- 
ington. 

"This gallant and accomplished young gentleman had en- 
tered at an early period of the war into the family of the 
commander in chief, and had always shared a large portion 
of his esteem and confidence. Brave to excess, he sought 
every occasion in addition to those furnished by his station in 
the army, to render services to his country, and acquire that 
military fame which he pursued with the ardor of a young sol- 
dier, whose courage seems to have partaken of that romantic 
spirit which youth and enthusiam produce in a fearless mind. 
Nor was it in the camp alone he was fitted to shine. His edu- 
cation was liberal ; and those who knew him state his manners 



LED YARD. 301 

io have been engaging, and his temper affectionate. In a 
highly finished portrait of his character, drawn by Dr. Ram- 
say, he says, that, " a dauntless bravery was the least of his 
virtues, and an excess of it his greatest foible." 

LED YARD, William, was a brave officer in the army of 
the revolution, and was basely murdered by the British 
troops, commanded by the traitor Arnold, after he had sur- 
rendered. We have collected the following particulars of this 
horrible transaction from various publications. General Ar- 
nold was appointed to conduct an expedition against New 
London, Connecicut, his native place. The embarkation hav- 
ing passed over from Long Island shore in the night, the 
troops were landed in two detachments on each side of the 
harbour, at ten o'clock in the morning of the 6th of Septem- 
ber; that on the Groton side being commanded by lieutenant 
colonel Eyre, and that on the New London side by general 
Arnold, who met with no great trouble. Fort Trumbull and 
the redoubt, which were intended to cover the harbour and 
town, not being tenable, were evacuated as he approached, 
and the few men in them crossed the river to fort Griswold, 
on Groton-hill. Arnold proceeded to the town without being 
otherwise opposed than by the scattered fire of small parties, 
that had hastily collected. Orders were sent by the general 
to Eyre for attacking fort Griswold, that so the possession of 
it might prevent the escape of the American shipping. The 
militia, to the amount of one hundred and fifty-seven, collect- 
ed for its defence, but so hastily, as not to be fully furnished 
with fire arms and other weapons. As the assailants ap- 
proached, a firing commenced, and the flag-staff was soon 
shot down, from whence the neighbouring spectators inferred, 
that the place had surrendered, till the continuance of the 
firing convinced them to the contrary. The garrison defend- 
ed themselves with great resolution and bravery ; Eyre was 
wounded near the works, and major Montgomery was killed 
immediately after, so that the command devolved on major 
Broomfield. The British at one time staggered; but the fort 
being out of repair, could not be maintained by a handful of 
men against so superior a number as that which assaulted it. 
After an action of about forty minutes, the resolution of the 
royal troops carried the place by the point of the bayonet. 
The Americans had not more than half a dozen hilled before 
the enemy entered the fort, when a severe execution took place, 
though resistance ceased. The British officer enquired, on his 
entering the fort, who commanded? colonel Ledyard answer- 
ed, " I did, sir, but you do now;" and presented him his 
sword. The colonel was immediately run through and kill- 
ed. The slain were seventy- three ; the wounded between 



302 LEE. 

thirty and forty, and about forty were carried off prisoner*. 
Soon after reducing the fort, the soldiers loaded a wagon with 
the wounded, as said, by order of their officers, and set the 
wagon off from the top of the hill, which is long and very 
steep; the wagon went a considerable distance with great 
force, till it was suddenly stopt by an apple tree, which gave 
the faint and bleeding men so te7'rible a shock that part of them 
died instantly! About fifteen vessels, with effects of the in- 
habitants, retreated up the river, notwithstanding the reduc- 
tion of the fort, and four others remained in the harbour un- 
hurt; a number were burnt by the fire communicating from 
the stores when in flames. Sixty dwelling houses and eighty 
four stores were burned, including those on both sides of the 
harbour and in New London. The burning of the town was 
intentional, and not accidental. The loss that the Americans 
sustained in this destruction was very great; for there were 
large quantities of naval stores, of European goods, of East 
and West India commodities, and of provisions in the several 
stores. The British had two commissioned officers and forty 
privates killed; eight officers, with one hundred and thirty- 
five non-commissioned and privates wounded. 

The following is on a head-stone at the grave of colonel 
Ledyard, half a mile S. E. of fort Griswold, orGroton, Con 
necticut. 

SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
OF 

WILLIAM LEDYARD, esq. 

*' Colonel commandant of the garrisoned posts of New 
" London and Groton, who, after a gallant defence, was, with 
" a large nart of the brave garrison, inhumanly massacred by 
6i British troops in fort Griswold, September 6th, 1781, JEtat, 
"sure 43. By a judicious and faithful discharge of the va- 
"rious duties of his station, he rendered most essential servi- 
" ces to his country, and stood confessed the unshaken patriot, 
"and intrepid hero. He lived the patron of magnanimity, 
"courtesy and humanity: He fell the victim of ungenerous 
"rage and cruelty!" 

LEE, Richard, Henry, president of congress, was a na- 
tive of Virginia, and from his earliest youth devoted his ta- 
lents to the service of his country. His public life was dis- 
tinguished by some remarkable circumstances. He had the 
honour of originating the first resistance to British oppres- 
sion, in the time of the stamp act, in 1765. He proposed in 
the Virginia house of burgesses, in 1773, the formation of a 
committee of correspondence, whose object was to disseminata 
information, and to kindle the flame of liberty throughout the 
continent. He was a member of the first congress, and it 



LEE. 303 

was he who made and ably supported the motion for the de- 
claration of independence, June 10, 1776. The motion was 
seconded by Mr. John Adams, of Massachusetts. 

He delivered a speech in support of his motion to declare 
the colonies independent, from which we give the following 
extract: 

" Who doubts then that a declaration of independence will 
procure us allies ? All nations are desirous of procuring, by 
commerce, the production of our exuberant soil: they will 
visit our ports hitherto closed by the monopoly of insatiable 
England. They are no less eager to contemplate the reduc- 
tion of her hated power ; they all loathe her barbarous domi- 
nion ; their succours will evince to our brave countrymen the 
gratitude they bear them for having been the first to shake the 
foundation of this Colossus. Foreign princes wait only for 
the extinction of all hazard of reconciliation to throw off their 
present reserve. If this measure is useful, it is no less becom- 
ing our dignity. America has arrived at a degree of power 
which assigns her a place among independent nations. We 
are not less entitled to it than the English themselves. If 
they have wealth, so have we ; if they are brave, so are we ; 
if they are more numerous, our population, through the incre- 
dible fruitfulness of our chaste wives, will soon equal theirs ; 
if they have men of renown, as well in peace as in war, we 
likewise have such : for political revolutions usually produce 
great, brave, and generous spirits. From what we have al- 
ready achieved in these painful beginnings, it is easy to pre- 
sume what we shall hereafter accomplish, for experience is the 
source of sage counsels, and liberty is the mother of great 
men. Have you not seen the enemy driven from Lexington, 
by thirty thousand citizens armed and assembled in one day? 
Already their most celebrated generals have yielded in Boston 
to the skill of ours; already their seamen, repulsed from our 
coasts, wander over the ocean, where they are the sport 
of the tempest, and the prey of famine. Let us hail the 
favourable omen, and fight, not for the sake of know ing on 
what terms we are to be the slaves of England, but to secure 
to ourselves a free existence, to found a just and independent 
government. Animated by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the in- 
numerable army of Persians; sustained by the love of indepen- 
dence, the Swiss and the Dutch humbled the power of Aus- 
tria by memorable defeats, and conquered a rank among na- 
tions. But the sun of America also shines upon the heads oi 
the brave; the point of our weapons is no less formidable than 
theirs; here also the same union prevails, the same contempt 
of danger and of death in asserting the cause of our country. 

" Why then do we longer delay ; why still deliberate ? Let 



304 LEE. 

this most happy day give birth to the American Republic. Let 
her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re -establish the 
reign of peace and of tbe laws. The eyes of Europe are fixed 
upon us ! she demands of us a living example of freedom, that 
may contrast, by the felicity of the citizens, with the ever in- 
creasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She 
invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find 
solace, and the persecuted, repose. She intreats us to culti- 
vate a propitious soil, where that generous plant, which first 
sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by the 
poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, 
sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade all the 
unfortunate of the human race. This is the end presaged by 
so many omens, by our first victories, by the present ardour 
and union, by the flight of Howe, and the pestilence which 
broke out amongst Dunmore's people, by the very winds which 
baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terrible 
tempest which ingulfed seven hundred vessels upon the coast 
of Newfoundland. If we are not this day wanting in our 
duty to the country, the names of the American legislators 
will be exalted, in the eyes of posterity, to a level with those 
of Theseus, Lycurcus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three 
"Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose memory has been, 
and will be, forever dear to virtuous men and good citizens." 

After the adoption of the articles of the confederation, Mr. 
Lee was under the necessity of withdrawing from congress, 
as no representative was allowed to continue in congress more 
than three years in any term of six years; but he was re-elect- 
ed in 1784, and continued till 1787. In November, 1784, he 
Avas chosen president of congress. When the constitution of 
the United Slates was submitted to the consideration of the 
public, he contended for the necessity of amendments previous- 
ly to its adoption. After the government was organized, he 
was chosen one of the first senators from Virginia, in 1789. 
This station he held till his resignation, in 1792. 

Mr. Lee died at his seat at Chantilly, in Westmoreland 
county, Virginia, June 22, 1794, in the sixty-third year of his 
age. He supported through life the character of a philoso- 
pher, a patriot, and a. sage ; and he died, as he had lived, 
blessing his country. 

LEE, Henry, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary 
war, entered the army as a captain of cavalry, in the Virginia 
line, at the age of nineteen, in which situation he soon com- 
manded the respect and attention of his country, by his active 
and daring enterprize, and the confidence of the illustrious 
commander in chief of the military forces of the United States ; 
a confidence which continued through life. He was rapidly 



LEE. 305 

promoted to the rank of major, and soon after, to that of lieu- 
tenant colonel commandant of a separate legionary corps. 
While major, he planned and executed the celebrated attack 
on the enemy's post at Paulus Hook, opposite to the city of 
New York, their head quarters; surprised and took the gar- 
rison, under the eye of the British army and navy, and safely 
conducted his prisoners into the American lines, many miles 
distant from the post taken. There are few enterprises to be 
found on military record, equal in hazard or difficulty, or 
conducted with more consummate skill and daring courage. 
It was, too, accomplished without loss; filled the camp of the 
enemy with shame and astonishment: and shed an unfading 
lustre on the American arms. Some time after, lie accompa- 
nied general Greene to the southern department of the United 
States, subsequent to the memorable and disastrous battle of 
Camden, which reduced under the power of the enemy the 
three states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 
The many brilliant achievements which he performed in that 
difficult and arduous war, under this celebrated and consum- 
mate commander, it is not necessary to enumerate; they are 
so many illustrious monuments of American courage and 
prowess, which, in all future ages, will be the theme of histo- 
rical praise; of grateful recollection by his countrymen, and 
of ardent imitation by every hrave and patriotic soldier. 
Those states were recovered from the enemy. The country 
enjoys in peace, independence and liberty, the benefits of his 
useful services. All that remains of him is a grave, and the 
glory of his deeds. 

At the close of the revolutionary war, he returned to the 
walks of civil life. He was often a member of the legisla- 
ture of Virginia, one of its delegates to congress, under the 
confederation, and one of the convention which adopted the 
present constitution of the United States, and which he sup- 
ported; three years governor of the state, and afterwards a 
representative in the congress of the United States, under the 
present organization. 

While governor of Virginia, lie was selected by president 
Washington, to command the army sent to quell the insurrec- 
tion which had been excited from untoward and erroneous im- 
pressions in the western counties of Pennsylvania, in which 
he had the felicity to bring to order and obedience the mis- 
guided inhabitants without shedding the blood of one fellow- 
citizen. He possessed this peculiar characteristic as a mili- 
tary commander, of being always careful of the health and 
lives of his soldiers, never exposing them to unnecessary 
toils, or fruitless hazards; always keeping them in readiness 
for useful and important enterprizes. Every public station 

39 



306 LEE. 

to Which lie was called, he filled with dignity and propriety. 
He died on the 25th of March, 1818, at the house of a friend 
on Cumberland island, Georgia, on his return from the 
West Indies to his native state, "Virginia, in the sixty-first 
year of his age. 

In private life he was kind, hospitable and generous. Too 
ardent in the pursuit of his objects; too confident in others, 
he wanted that prudence which is necessary to guard against, 
imposition and pecuniary losses, and accumulate .wealth. 
Like many other illustrious commanders and patriots, he died 
poor. 

He has left behind him a valuable historical work, entitled. 
"Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the 
United States," in which the difficulties and privations en- 
dured by the patriotic army employed in that quarter; their 
courage and enterprise, and the skill and talents of their 
faithful, active and illustrious commander, are displayed in 
never-fading colours; a work, to use the language of the pub- 
lishers, by the perusal of which ' the patriot will be always 
delighted, the statesman informed, and the soldier instructed: 
which bears in every part the ingenious stamp of a patriot 
soldier; and cannot fail to interest all who desire to under- 
stand the causes, and to know the difficulties of our memo- 
rable struggle. The facts may be relied on, " all of which 
he saw, and part of which he was." 

Fortune seems to have conducted him, at the close of his 
life, almost to the tomb of Greene, and his hones may now 
repose by the side of those of his beloved chief; friends in 
life, united in death, and partners in a never-dying fame. 

LEE, Ezra, was a brave officer in the revolutionary ar- 
my. It is not a little remarkable that this officer is the only 
man, of which it can be said, that he fought the enemy upon 
land, upon water, and under the water; the latter mode of 
warfare was as follows: 

When the British fleet lay in the North River, opposite the 
city of New- York, and while general Washington had posses- 
sion of the city, he was very desirous to be rid of such neigh- 
bors. A Mr. David Bushnell, of Saybrook, Connecticut, who 
had the genius of a Fulton, constructed a sub-marine machine, 
of a conical form, bound together with iron bands, within 
which one person might sit, and with cranks and skulls, could 
navigate it to any depth under water. In the upper part was 
affixed a vertical screw for the purpose of penetrating ships* 
bottoms, and to this was attached a magazine of powder, with- 
in which was a clock, which on being set to run any given 
time, would, when run down, spring a gun-lock, and an ex- 
plosion would follow. This marine Turtle, so called, was ex- 



LEE. 307 

amined by general Washington, and approved. To preserve 
secrecy, it was experimented within an inclosed yard, over 
twenty to thirty feet water, and kept during day light locked 
in a vessel's hold. The brother of the inventor was to be the 
person to navigate the machine into action, but on sinking it 
the first time, lie declined the service. 

General Washington, unwilling to relinquish the object, re- 
quested major general Parsons to select a person, in whom he 
could confide, voluntarily to engage in the enterprise; the 
latter being well acquainted with the heroic spirit, the patriot- 
ism, and the firm and steady courage of captain Ezra Lee, 
immediately communicated the plan and the offer, which 
he accepted, observing that his life was at general Wash- 
ington's service. After practising the machine until he un- 
derstood its powers of balancing and moving under water, 
a night was fixed upon for the attempt. General Washington 
and his associates in the secret took their station upon the roof 
of a house in Broadway, anxiously waiting the result. Morn- 
ing came and no intelligence could be had of the intrepid sub- 
marine navigator, nor could the boat which attended him 
give any account of him after parting with him the first part 
of the night. While these anxious spectators were about to 
give him up as lost, several barges were seen to start sudden- 
ly from Governor's Island, (then in possession of the British) 
and proceed towards some object near the Asia ship of the 
line; as suddenly they were seen to put about and steer for 
the island with springing oars. In two or three minutes an 
explosion took place, from the surface of the water, resemb- 
ling a water-spout, which aroused the whole city and region; 
the enemy's ships took the alarm; signals were rapidly given; 
the ships cut their cables and proceeded to the Hook with all 
possible despatch, sweeping their bottoms with chains, and 
with difficulty prevented their affrighted crews from leaping 
overboard. 

During this scene of consternation the deceased came to the 
surface, opened the brass head of his aquatic machine, rose 
up and gave a signal for the boat to come to him, but they 
could not reach him until he again descended under water, to 
avoid the enemy's shot from the island, who had discovered 
him and commenced firing in his wake. Having forced him- 
self against a strong current under water, until without the 
reach of shot, he was taken in tow and landed at the battery 
amidst a great crowd, and reported himself to general Wash- 
ington, who expressed his entire satisfaction that the object 
was effected without the loss of lives. Captain Lee was un- 
der the Asia's bottom more than two hours, endeavoring to 
penetrate her copper, but in vain. He frequently came up un- 



308 LINCOLN. 

der her stern galleries searching for exposed plank, anil could 
hear the centinels cry. Once he was discovered by the watch 
on deck, and heard them speculate upon him, but concluded a 
drifted log had paid them a visit. He returned to her keel and 
examined it fore and aft, and then proceeded to some other 
ships ; but the impossibility of penetrating their copper, for 
want of a resisting power, hundreds owed the safety of their 
lives to this circumstance. The longest space of time he could 
remain under water was two hours. 

Captain Lee, during the war, ever had the confidence and 
esteem of the commander in chief, and was frequently employ- 
ed by him on secret missions of importance. He fought with 
him at Trenton and Monmouth ; at Brandy wine the hilt of his 
sword was shot away, and his hat and coat were penetrated 
with the enemy's balls. On the return of peace, he laid aside 
the habiliments of war, and returned to his farm, where, like 
Cincinnatus, he tilled his lands, until now called by the great 
commander in chief to the regions above. 

He died at Lyme, Connecticut, on the 29th October, 1821, 
aged seventy-two years. 

LINCOLN, Benjamin, was horn in Hingham, Massachu- 
setts, January 23, 1733. His early education was not auspi- 
cious to his future eminence, and his vocation was that of a. 
farmer, till he was more than forty years of age, though he 
Avas commissioned as a magistrate, and elected a representa- 
tive in the state legislature. In the year 1775, he sustained 
the office of lieutenant colonel of militia, and having espous- 
ed the cause of his country as a firm and determined whig, he 
was elected a member of the provincial congress, and one of 
the secretaries of that body, and also a member of the com- 
mittee of correspondence. In 1776, he was appointed by the 
council of Massachusetts a brigadier, and soon after a major 
general, and he applied himself assiduously to training and 
preparing the militia for actual service in the field, in which 
he displayed the military talent he possessed. In October, he 
marched with a body of militia and joined the main army at 
New York. The commander in chief, from a knowledge of 
his character and merit, recommended him to congress as an 
excellent officer, and in February, 1777, he was by that ho- 
norable body created a major general on the continental esta- 
blishment. For several months he commanded a division, or 
detachments in the main army, under Washington, and was 
in situations which required the exercise of the utmost vigi- 
lance and caution, as well as firmness and courage. Having 
the command of about five hundred men in an exposed situa- 
tion near Bound Brook, through the neglect of his patroles, 
a large body of the enemy approached within two hundred 



LINCOLN. soy 

yards of his quarters undiscovered; the general had scarcely 
time to mount and leave the house, before it was surrounded. 
He led off his troops, however, in the face of the enemy, and. 
made good his retreat, though with the loss of about sixty 
men killed and wounded. One of his aids, with the generaFs 
baggage and papers, fell into the hands of the enemy, as did 
also three small pieces of artillery. In July, 1777, general 
Washington selected him to join the northern army under the 
command of general Gates, to oppose the advance of general 
Burgoyne. He took his station at Manchester, in Vermont, 
to receive and form the New England militia, as they ariiv 
ed, and to order their march to the rear of the British army. 
He detached colonel Brown, with five hundred men, on the 
X 3th of September, to the landing at lake George, where he 
succeeded in surprising the enemy, took possession of two 
hundred batteaux, liberated one hundred American prisoners, 
and captured two hundred and ninety-three of the enemy, 
with the loss of only three killed and five wounded. This 
enterprise was of the highest importance, and contributed es- 
sentially to the glorious event which followed. Having de- 
tached two other parties to the enemy's posts at Mount Inde- 
pendence and Skeensborough, general Lincoln united his^re- 
maining force with the army under general Gates, and was 
the second in command. During the sanguinary conflict on 
the 7th of October, general Lincoln commanded within our 
lines, and at one o'clock the next morning, he marched with 
his division to relieve the troops that had been engaged, and 
to occupy the battle ground, the enemy having retreated. 
While on this duty he had occasion to ride forward some dis- 
tance, to reconnoitre, and to order some disposition of his 
own troops, when a party of the enemy made an unexpected 
movement, and he approached within musket shot before he 
was aware of his mistake. A whole volley of musketry was in- 
stantly discharged at him and his aids, and he received a 
wound by which the bones of his leg were badly fractured, 
and he was obliged to be carried off the field. The wound 
w r as a formidable one, and the loss of his limb was for some 
time apprehended. He was for several months confined at 
Albany, and it became necessary to remove a considerable 
portion of the main bone before he was conveyed to his house 
at Hingham, and under this painful surgical operation, the 
w r riter of this being present, witnessed in him a degree of 
firmness and patience not to be exceeded. I have known him, 
says colonel Rice, who was a member of his military family, 
during the most painful operation by the surgeon, while by- 
standers were frequently obliged to leave the room, entertain 
us with some pleasant anecdote, or story, and draw forth a 



310 LINCOLN. 

smile from his friends. His wound continued several years 
in an ulcerated state, and by the loss of the bone the limb was 
shortened, which occasioned lameness during the remainder 
of his life. General Lincoln certainly afforded very import- 
ant assistance in the capture of Burgoyne, though it was his 
unfortunate lot, while in active duty, to be disabled before he 
could participate in the capitulation. Though his recovery 
was not complete, he repaired to head quarters in the follow- 
ing August, and was joyfully received by the commander in 
chief, who well knew how to appreciate his merit. It was 
from a developement of his estimable character as a man, 
and his talent as a military commander, that he was desig- 
nated by congress for the arduous duties of the chief command 
in the southern department, under innumerable embarrass- 
ments. On his arrival at Charleston, December, 1778, he 
found that he had to form an army, to provide supplies, and 
to arrange the various departments, that he might be able to 
cope with an enemy consisting of experienced officers and ve- 
teran troops. This, it is obvious, required a man of superior 
powers, indefatigable perseverance, and unconquerable energy. 
Had not these been his inherent qualities, Lincoln must have 
yielded to the formidable obstacles which opposed his pro- 
gress. About the 28th of December, general Prevost arrived 
with a fleet, and about three thousand British troops, and took 
possession of Savannah, after routing a small party of Ame- 
ricans, under general Robert Howe. General Lincoln im- 
mediately put his troops in motion, and took post on the east- 
ern side of the river, about twenty miles from the city ; but. 
he was not in force to commence offensive operations, till the 
last of February* In April, with the view of covering the 
upper part of Georgia, he marched to Augusta, after which 
Prevost, the British commander, crossed the river into Caro- 
lina, and marched for Charleston. General Lincoln, there- 
fore, recrosscd the Savannah, and followed his route, and on 
his arrival near the city, the enemy had retired from before it 
during the previous night. 

He joined the count D'Estaing in September, 1779, with 
one thousand men, in the bold assault on Savannah. On the 
9th of October, in the morning, the troops were led on by 
D'Estaing, and Lincoln united, while a column led by count 
Dillion missed their route in the darkness, and failed of the 
intended co-operation. Amidst a most appalling fire of the 
covered enemy, the allied troops forced the abbatis, and plant- 
ed two standards on the parapets. But being overpowered at 
the point of attack, they were compelled to retire; the French 
having seven hundred, the Americans two hundred and forty 
killed and wounded. The count Pulaski, at the head of a 



LINCOLN. 311 

body of .our horse, was mortally wounded. General Lincoln 
next repaired to Charleston, and endeavoured to put that city 
in a posture of defence, urgently requesting of congress a re- 
inforcement of regular troops, and additional supplies, which 
were but partially complied with. In February, 1780, gene- 
ral sir Henry Clinton arrived, and landed a formidable force 
in the vicinity, and on the 30th of March, encamped in front 
of the American lines at Charleston. Considering the vast 
superiority of the enein,y, both in sea and land forces, it might 
be questioned whether prudence and correct judgment, would 
dictate an attempt to defend the city; it will not be supposed, 
however, that the determination was formed without the most 
mature deliberation, and for reasons perfectly justifiable. It 
is well known that the general was in continual expectation of 
an augmentation of strength by reinforcements. On the 10th 
of April, the enemy having made some advances, summoned 
the garrison to an unconditional surrender, which was prompt- 
ly refused. A heavy and incessant cannonade was sustained 
on each side, till the 11th of May, when the besiegers had 
completed their third parallel line, and having made a second 
demand of surrender, a capitulation was agreed on. 

It is to be lamented that, with all the judicious and vigorous 
efforts in his power, general Lincoln was requited only by the 
frowns of fortune, whereas had he been successful in his bold 
enterprise and views, he would have been crowned with un- 
fading laurels. But notwithstanding a series of disappoint- 
ments and unfortunate occurrences, he was censured by no 
one, nor was his judgment or merit called in question. He re- 
tained his popularity and the confidence of the army, and was 
considered as a most zealous patriot, and the bravest of sol- 
diers. "The motives and feelings that prompted general 
Lincoln rather to risk a «iege than to evacuate Charleston, 
were most honourable to him as a man and a soldier. There 
was such a balance of reasons on the question, as under the 
existing circumstances should exempt his decision from blame 
or distrust. He could not calculate on the despondence and 
inactivity of the people who should come to his succour. The 
suspense and anxiety, the toil and hazard attending the siege, 
gave the fullest scope to his wisdom, patience and valour. 
His exertions were incessant. He was on the lines night and 
day, and for the last fortnight never undressed to sleep." 
Notwithstanding this unfortunate termination of his command, 
so established was the spotless reputation of the vanquished 
general, that he continued to enjoy the undiminished respect 
and confidence of the congress, the army, and the commander 
in chief. " Great praise is due to general Lincoln," says Dr. 
Ramsay, "for his judicious and spirited conduct in baffling 



Slfi LINCOLN. 

for three months the greatly superior force of sir Henry 
Clinton and admiral Arbuthnot. Though Charleston and the 
southern army were lost, yet by their long protracted defence 
the British plans were not only retarded, but deranged, and 
North Carolina was saved for the remainder of the year 
1780." 

General Lincoln was permitted to his parole, and in No- 
vember following, he was exchanged for major general Phil- 
lips, a prisoner of the convention of Saratoga. In the cam- 
paign of 1781, general Lincoln commanded a division under 
Washington, and at the siege of Yorktown he had his full 
share of the honour of that brilliant and auspicious event. 
The articles of capitulation stipulated for the same honour in 
favour of the surrendering army, as had been granted to the 
garrison of Charleston. General Lincoln was appointed to 
conduct them to the field where their arms were deposited, 
and received the customary submission. In the general or- 
der of the commander in chief, the day after the capitulation, 
general Lincoln was among the general officers whose send- 
vices were particularly mentioned. In October, 1781, he 
was chosen by congress secretary at war, retaining his rank 
in the army. In this office he continued till October, 1783, 
when his proffered resignation was accepted by congress, as 
follows: " Resolved, that the resignation of major general 
Lincoln, as secretary of war for the United States, be accept- 
ed in consideration of the earnest desire which he expresses, 
the objects of the war being so happily accomplished, to retire 
to private life, and that he be informed that the United States 
in congress assembled, entertain a high sense of his perse- 
verance, fortitude, activity and meritorious services in the 
field, as well as of his diligence, fidelity, and capacity in the 
execution of the office of secretary at war, which important 
trust he has discharged to their entire approbation." Hav- 
ing relinquished the duties and cares of a public employ- 
ment, he retired and devoted his attention to his farm; but in 
1784, he was chosen one of the commissioners and agents on 
the part of the state, to make and execute a treaty with the 
Penobscot Indians. When in the year 1786 — 7, the authority 
of the slate government was in a manner prostrated, and the 
country alarmed by a most audacious spirit of insurrection, 
under the guidance of Shays and Day, general Lincoln was 
appointed by the governor and council, to command a detach- 
ment of militia, consisting of four or five thousand men, to 
oppose their progress, and compel them to a submission to the 
laws. He marched from Boston on the 20th of January, into 
the counties of Worcester, Hampshire, and Berkshire, where 
the insurgents had erected their standard. They were em- 



LINCOLN. 313 

bodied in considerable force, and manifested a determined re- 
sistance, and a sligbt skirmisb ensued between tbem and a 
party of militia under general Shepherd. Lincoln, however, 
conducted with such address and energy, that the insurgents 
were routed from one town to another, till they were com- 
pletely dispersed in all directions; and by his wise and pru- 
dent measures, the insurrection was happily suppressed with- 
out bloodshed, excepting a few individuals who were slain 
under general Shepherd's command. At the May election, 
1787, general Lincoln was elected lieutenant governor by the 
legislature, having had a plurality of votes by the people. 
He was a member of the convention for ratifying the federal 
constitution, and in the summer of 1789, he received from 
president Washington the appointment of collector of the port 
of Boston, which office he sustained till being admonished by 
the increasing infirmities of age, he requested permission to 
resign about two years before his death. In 1789, he was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners to treat with the Creek In- 
dians on the frontiers of the southern states, and in 1793, he 
was one of the commissioners to effect a peace with the west- 
ern Indians. 

Having, after his resignation of the office of collector, pass- 
ed about two years in retirement, and in tranquility of mind, 
but experiencing the feebleness of age, he received a short at- 
tack of disease, by which his life was terminated on the 9th 
of May, 1810. 

General Lincoln in his nature was unsusceptible of the spi- 
rit of envy. Whoever achieved a noble action to the honour 
and advantage of his country, whether as a patriot or soldier, 
was with him the man of merit, and the theme of eulogy, 
though it might eclipse his own fame. He was universally 
respected as one of the best of men, of ardent patriotism, and 
of heroic courage. Major general Knox, whose candour and 
discriminating judgment no one will deny, was known to es- 
timate next to Washington, in military talents, generals 
Greene and Lincoln. Colonel Nathan Rice, a respectable offi- 
cer, who was a member of his military family, observes, that 
the sacrifice of as much domestic happiness as falls to the lot 
of man, to serve his country, would seem to place his patriot- 
ism beyond suspicion. The firmness and zeal with which he 
rendered this service during her struggle, the coolness with 
which he met danger, his fortitude under bodily pain, priva- 
tion and disappointment, and the confidence reposed in him 
by the commander in chief, all strongly evince that his coun- 
try had not misjudged in elevating him to the distinguished 
rank he held in the army. While at Purysburg, on the Sa- 
vanna!) river, a soldier named Fickling, having hee/i de- 

4Q 



314 LINCOLN. 

fected in frequent attempts to desert, was tried and sentenced 
to be hanged. The general ordered the execution. The rope 
broke; a second was procured, which broke also; the case was 
reported to the general for directions. "Let him run," said 
the general, "I thought he looked like a scape gallows." 

We are indebted for the foregoing interesting sketch of ge- 
neral Lincoln, to Dr. Thacher's excellent Work. We select 
what follows from Garden's interesting Anecdotes of the Re- 
volutionary War: 

" It happened, that as Fickling was led to execution, the 
surgeon general of the army passed accidentally on his way 
to his quarters, which were at some distance off. On being 
tied up to the fatal tree, the removal of the ladder caused 
the rope to break, and the culprit fell to the ground. This 
circumstance, to a man of better character, might have proved 
of advantage; but being universally considered as a mis- 
creant, from whom no good could be expected, a new rope was 
sought for, which lieutenant Hamilton, the adjutant of the 1st 
regiment, a stout and heavy man, essayed by every means, 
but without effect, to break. Fickling was then haltered, 
and again turned off, when to the astonishment of the by-stan- 
ders, the rope Untwisted, and he fell a second time, uninjured, 
to the ground. A cry for mercy was now general throughout 
the ranks, which occasioned major Ladson, aid-dc-camp to 
general Lincoln, to gallop to head-quarters, to make a repre- 
sentation of facts, which were no sooner stated, than an imme- 
diate pardon was granted, accompanied with an order, that he- 
should, instantaneously, be drummed, with every mark of in- 
famy, out of camp, and threatened with instant death, if ever 
he should, at any future period, be found attempting to ap- 
proach it. In the interim, the surgeon general bad establish- 
ed himself at his quarters, in a distant harn, little doubting but 
that the catastrophe was at an end, and Fickling quietly rest- 
ing in his grave. Midnight was at hand, and he was busily 
engaged in writing, when hearing the approach of a footstep, 
lie raised his eyes, and saw with astonishment, the figure of 
the man, who had, in his opinion, been executed, slowly and 
with haggard countenance, approaching towards him. »* How ! 
how is this ?" exclaimed the doctor. "Whence come you ? 
What do you want with me ? Were you not hanged this morn- 
ing ?" "Yes, sir, replied the resuscitated man, "I am the 
wretch you saw going to the gallows, and who was hanged." 
" Keep your distance," said the doctor ; approach me not till 
you say, why you come here?" "Simply, sir," said the sup- 
posed spectre, "to solicit food. I am no ghost» doctor. The 
rope broke twice while the executioner was doing his office. 
aha the general thought proper to pardon me." "If that be 



LIPPITT. 315 

the case, 1 ' rejoined the doctor, " eat and welcome; but I beg 
of you, in future, to have a little more consideration, and not in- 
trude so unceremoniously into the apartment of one who had 
every right to suppose you an inhabitant of the tomb." 

The person and air of general Lincoln betokened his mili- 
tary vocation. He was of a middle height and erect, broad 
chested and muscular, in his latter years corpulent, with open 
intelligent features, a venerable and benign aspect. His man- 
ners were easy and unaffected, but courteous and polite. In 
all his transactions, both public and private, his mind was 
elevated above all sordid or sinister views, and our history 
will not perhaps record many names more estimable than was 
that of general Lincoln. 

Regularity, both in business and his mode of living, were 
peculiar traits in his character; habitually temperate, and ac- 
customed to sleep, unconfined to time or place. In conversa- 
tion he was always correct and chaste; on no occasion utter- 
ing anything like profanity or levity on serious subjects, and 
when others have indulged in these respects in his presence, 
it was ever received by him with such marked disapproba- 
tion of countenance, as to draw from them an instantaneous 
apology, and regret for the offence. 

The following anecdote is related of general Lincoln: 
When he went to make peace with the Creek Indians, one of 
the chiefs asked him to sit down on a log. He was then de- 
sired to move, and, in a few minutes, to move farther. The 
request was repeated until the general got to the end of the log. 
The Indian said, " Move farther;" to which the general re- 
plied, "lean move no farther." "Just so it is with us," 
said the chief; "you have moved us back to the water, and 
then ask us to move farther!" 

LIPPITT, Christopher, was one of the early advocates 
and firmest supporters of our efforts for independence, and a 
gentleman distinguished in the early part of his life, for the 
discharge of numerous civil and military offices with which he 
was invested by the government of his native state, and by 
the father of his country. In September, 1776, when the re- 
giment under his command was called for by general Wash- 
ington, he took a continental commission, and left Rhode 
Island for the camp of the commander in chief, at Harlaem 
Heights, and was engaged under general Lee in the battle on 
White Plains, and was afterwards under the immediate com- 
mand of general Washington in the engagements at Trenton- 
and Princeton. At this time, he received a brevet brigadier 
general's commission from general Washington, and soon 
after his term of service expired, he returned home. He af- 
terwards received a brigadier general's commission from the 



si6 LIVINGSTON. 

governor of Rhode Island, and was shortly after in the en- 
gagement in that state. 

He died in Cranston, Rhode Island, in the year 1824, aged 
eighty. 

LIVINGSTON. PuiLir, whose signature is attached to 
our Declaration of Independence, was born at Albany, on the 
15th of January, 1716. and educated at Yale college, in Con- 
necticut, where he graduated in 1737. He was a grandson of 
Robert Livingston, the original proprietor of the manor of 
Livingston, on the river Hudson, in the state of New- York, 
who was born at Ancram in Scotland, in the year 1654. His 
father, the Reverend John Livingston, a very distinguished mi- 
nister of the kirk of Scotland, having some years after found it 
necessary to quit his native country, on account of his " oppo- 
sition to Episcopacy/' took charge of an English Presbyteri- 
an church in Rotterdam, while he himself selected America 
as his future residence. 

The grant, or patent of the manor of Livingston, hears date 
1686, and the colonial history of New- York, from the year 
1798, to the revolution, furnishes abundant evidence of the 
elevated standing in public life, which was maintained during 
that period, as well by the first proprietor of the manor, as by 
his immediate descendants. 

At the present day, when the advantages of a liberal educa- 
tion are so justly appreciated, and so readily obtained: when 
a diploma is considered as necessary a preliminary for the 
counting-house as for either the pulpit or the bar, its posses- 
sion confers no further distinction on an individual than what 
is enjoyed in common throughout the circle in which he moves ; 
there is reason, however, to believe, that Philip Livingston 
participated in its benefits at a time when it was almost ex- 
clusively confined to the learned professions, and that to his 
early attainments may, in some measure, be attributed 
that deference to his opinions on subjects of general interest 
which the mercantile pursuits that afterwards occupied his 
attention, would not alone have been calculated to inspire. 

The solicitude already manifested to connect the obituary 
notices of the times with the events of the American revolu- 
tion, and the natural propensity of mankind to trace their ge- 
nealogy to celebrated sources, render it evident, that, with the 
progress of timc,an increasing interest will be felt in the bio- 
graphy of those illustrious statesman and soldiers who laid 
the foundation of the American empire, and that future and 
remote generations will be directed and stimulated in a ca- 
reer of distinguished patriotism, by meditating on the glo- 
rious achievements of a renowned ancestry. The authors of 
our independence will indeed occupy a higher rank in the 



LIVINGSTON. 317 

veneration of posterity, than ever the founders of Rome at- 
tained in the estimation of the eternal city : and for the grati- 
fication of the present and all future times, it is now proper 
to collect the shattered notices of the personal and political his- 
tory, to mould them into form, and to exhibit the result to the 
contemplation of an admiring world. 

His entrance into public life was as a magistrate in the city 
of New York, where he settled as a merchant shortly after his 
marriage, and which he afterwards represented in the coloni- 
al general assembly, from 1759 to 1769, inclusive. The jour- 
nals of that body, during his term of service, evince his fidel- 
ity towards his constituents and a constant regard for the in- 
terests and welfare of the colony. In 1764, he submitted to 
the house, in his capacity of chairman of a committee appoint- 
ed for that purpose, a very animated petition to the king, 
which was afterwards adopted, and in which the "intimation 
of a design" to tax "these colonies" by laws passed in Great 
Britain, is made the subject of serious complaint; and, in 
1768, we find his name as speaker, to an answer of the house 
to the celebrated Boston letter, and also, to two several me- 
morials to the English parliament, on the subject of the exist- 
ing grievances, which, in conjunction with certain explana- 
tory resolutions, entered on the journals, occasioned the dis- 
solution of the assembly shortly after. 

The election of 1769, appears to have been warmly contest- 
ed in the city and county of New York. The old members 
were nominated and strenuously supported by many, "for 
their noble and patriotic spirit, in boldly asserting and main- 
taining the rights and privileges of Americans," without fee 
or reward; while, on the other hand, several other citizens 
were held up in opposition by a party, respectable both as to 
numbers and character, but acting apparently under the influ- 
ence of feelings excited by former religious controversies be- 
tween the members of the church of England and the dissent- 
ers. 

At the very commencement of the contest, Mr. Livingston 
published his determination ''not to have any agency in an 
election which he apprehended would be productive of the most 
violent heats and animosities," and persisted in this resolu- 
tion, notwithstanding the solicitations of both parties to dis- 
suade him from it; another name was accordingly substituted 
on the old ticket, while the friends of the new candidates made 
a vigorous but unsuccessful attempt to accomplish their pur- 
pose by appropriating his to themselves, without his consent. 
lie was, also, during the same year, returned as a member 
from the manor of Livingston, but, although the election was 
unanimous, it was decided by the house that his non-residence 



318 LIVINGSTON. 

disqualified him from taking his seat. His constituents peti- 
tioned against the decision, hut to no purpose. A detail of 
the various circumstances which characterized the life of Mr. 
Livingston, from the last mentioned pejjiod until the year 
1774, would be but a record of those events which preceded 
and terminated in the meeting of the continental congress, as 
he invariably took an active part in all those measures adopt- 
ed by his fellow-citizens, the object of which was to obtain re- 
dress for past grievances, or prevent their recurrence for the 
future. An incident, however, occurred, a few days previous 
to his first election to the proposed congress, which may he 
worthy of notice from the evidence it furnishes that the con- 
duct of Mr. Livingston, and of his colleagues, was influenced 
by liberal and independent views, becoming statesmen, and 
not by motives of sectional interests or individual popularity. 
Shortly after his nomination as a delegate in May, 1774, a let- 
ter, signed by several gentlemen, was directed to him, in con- 
junction with John Jay, John Alisop, Isaac Low, and James 
Duane,in which they were requested, "in order to avoid the in- 
conveniences that may arise from a contested election," to 
state, explicity, whether they "would engage to use their ut- 
most endeavours at tlie proposed congress, that an agreement 
not to import goods from Great Britain, until the American 
grievances should be redressed, should be entered into by the 
colonies;" in answer to which they observed, that they would 
do every thing in their power, which in their opinion, would be 
conducive to the general interests of the colonies, and that, at 
present, they thought the proposed measure the most efficacious 
one that could be adopted, but concluded with, "Permit us 
to add, that we make this declaration of our sentiments be- 
cause we think it right, and not as an inducement to be favour- 
ed with your votes ; nor have we the least objection in your 
electing any other gentlemen, as your delegates, in whom you 
repose greater confidence." This manly avowal was suc- 
ceeded by an unanimous election, and when the time approach- 
ed for them to enter on their duties, they were escorted on the 
first of September, 1774, to the vessel in which they embark- 
ed for Philadelphia, with all those testimonials of respect to 
which their character and their cause so justly entitled them. 
From the year 1774 to 1778, Mr. Livingston was zealous 
and indefatigable in attending to his congressional duties, 
either as a representative from the colony, or the state of New 
York, although he was in the mean time also called on to assist 
in the formation of a state government, and to perform other 
public duties of a more local description. On the 22(1 No- 
vember, 1774, he was elected a member of the association 
formed agreeably to a resolve of congress to abstain from im- 
portation, &c. 



LIVINGSTON. 319 

In congress, he was appointed, (October llth, 1774,) to- 
gether with Messrs. Lee and Jay, to prepare a memorial to 
the people of British America, and an address to the people of 
Great Britain. On the 20th April, 1775, he was chosen 
president of the "Provincial Congress," assembled in New- 
York, for the purpose of electing out of their body, delegates 
to the next continental congijess ; and was one of the delegates. 
On the 8th of May, 1775, he, together with his colleagues, 
left the city for Philadelphia, "attended by a great train to 
the ferry, of whom, about five hundred gentlemen, including 
two hundred as militia under arms, crossed over with them. 
On the 1st February, 1776, he, together with John Allsop, 
John Jay and Alexander M'Dougal, were unanimously elec- 
ted to serve for the city and county in the next general assem- 
bly." On the 16th of the ensuing April, he was elected one of 
the delegates to serve in the next provincial congress ; and in 
June, 1776, he was one of the delegates then elected to serve 
in the provincial congress the ensuing year, with the addi- 
tional power of forming a new government for the colony of 
New York. He was not, however, destined to witness the ter- 
mination of a conflict, in the prosecution of which lie had 
thus far redeemed the sacred pledge by which he stood com- 
mitted to his country. In May, 1778, he left his family, with 
a presentimentthat what to them appeared a temporary, would 
in fact be a final separation; and shortly after, having resum- 
ed his seat in congress, then sitting in Yorktown, Pennsylva- 
nia, he was followed to the grave, by that body, whose cha- 
racter for wisdom, firmness and integrity, he had contributed 
towards establishing : whose fame has ere this been recorded 
in the histories of other nations than our own, and whose ac- 
tions, when compared with the events of preceding ages, may 
justify an American in exclaiming: 

" Priscojureni alios: ego me nunc denique naium gratnlor." 

As one of the founders of our independence, he foresaw the 
difficulties and sacrifices that were to be encountered, and 
proceeded in its earliest stages with a degree of prudence and 
circumspection, which were warranted hy his age and expe- 
rience, and which served as a check on the more animated ca- 
reer of some of his youthful associates; when, however, "in 
the course of human events it became necessary to dissolve the 
political bands" which connected this country with Great Bri- 
tain, neither considerations of personal convenience, nor the 
probable loss of fortune, were sufficient to prevent him from 
prosecuting, with ardour, a cause in which moderation and 
forbearance had hitherto been ineffectually tried ; and but a 
short time previous to his death, he gave a proof of his devo- 



3£0 LIVINGSTON. 

tion to it, by selling a portion of his private estate to support 
the public credit. 

In his temper, Mr. Livingston was somewhat irritable, yet 
exceedingly mild, tender, and affectionate to his family and 
friends. There was a dignity, with a mixture of austerity, in 
his deportment, which rendered it difficult for strangers to ap- 
proach him, and which made him a terror to those who swerv- 
ed from the line, or faltered in the path, of personal virtue and 
patriotic duty. He was silent and reserv ed, and seldom in- 
dulged with much freedom in conversation. Fond of reading* 
and endowed with a solid and discriminating understanding, 
his mind was replenished with various extensive and useful 
knowledge. 

He possessed, in an extraordinary degree, an intuitive per- 
ception of character. He saw, at one glance, into the souls 
of men, and every man carried a window in his bosom, with 
regard to him, through which his penetrating eyes could ob- 
serve the minute lineaments, as well as the great outlines, of 
character. This deep insight into men and tilings rendered 
him peculiarly useful in the important drama of the American 
revolution. 

His last moments were correspondent with the tenor of his 
well-spent life. He met, with characteristic firmness and 
christian fortitude, the trying hour which separated him from 
this world. 

He taught us how to live, and (oh ! too high 
The price for knowledge, J taught us how to die. 

LIVINGSTON, William, governor of New Jersey, de- 
scended from a family in New York, which emigrated from 
North Britain, and which was distinguished for its numbers, 
opulence, talents, christian virtue, and attachment to liberty. 
He was born about the year 1723, and was graduated at Yale 
college in 1741. He afterwards pursued the study of the law. 
Possessing from the gift of God a strong and comprehensive 
mind, a brilliant imagination, and a retentive memory, and 
Improving with unwearied diligence the literary advantages 
which he enjoyed, he soon rose to eminence in his profession. 
He early embraced the cause of civil and religious liberty. 
When Great Britain advanced her arbitrary claims, he em- 
ployed his pen in opposing them, and in vindicating the rights 
of his countrymen. After sustaining some important offices 
in New York, he removed to New Jersey, and as a represen- 
tative of this state, was one of the principal members of the 
first congress, in 1774. After the inhabitants of New Jersey 
had sent their governor, Mr. William Franklin, under a 
strong guard to Connecticut, and had formed a new consti- 



MACCLINTOCK. 321 

tution in July, 1776, Mr. Livingston was elected the first 
chief magistrate, and such was his integrity and republican 
virtue, that he was annually re-elected till his death. During 
the war he bent his exertions to support the independence of 
his country. By the keenness and severity of his political 
writings, he exasperated the British, who distinguished him 
as an object of their peculiar hatred. His pen had no incon- 
siderable influence in exciting that indignation and zeal, 
which rendered the militia of New Jersey so remarkable for 
the alacrity with which on any alarm they arrayed themselves 
against the common enemy. He was, in 1787, a delegate to 
the grand convention which formed the constitution of the 
United States. After having sustained the office of governor 
for fourteen years, with great honor to himself and usefulness 
to the state, he died at his seat near Elizabethtown, July 25, 
1790, aged sixty-seven years. 

MACCLINTOCK, Nathaniel, was born March 21, 
1757, and received his education at Harvard College, where 
he was graduated in 1775, at the age of eighteen. Being in 
Boston at the commencement of the revolutionary war, he had 
the offer of an ensign's commission in the British army, but 
he declined a place so tempting to youthful ambition, and 
espoused the cause of liberty and his country. Soon after the 
battle of Lexington, he joined the American army as lieuten- 
ant of one of the companies in the New Hampshire line; was soon 
appointed adjutant in colonel Poor's regiment, and promoted to 
the rank of a Brigade Major, when Poor was advanced to that 
of Brigadier general. He was with general Washington's 
army at the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, in 1776, and 
was very active on that memorable night, especially, in con- 
veying the enemy, after the capture, across the river. The 
soldiers suffered severely on that occasion. Many were so 
destitute of shoes and stockings, that their footsteps on the 
snow and ice were imprinted with blood, yet they cheerfully 
performed their duty. He was at Ticonderoga, and in the 
various engagements with Burgoyne's army until its final cap- 
ture. His letters to his father while in the army exhibit a 
noble enthusiasm in the public service. His talents and edu- 
cation gave him great advantages, and his character as an 
officer was so high in the estimation of Washington and all 
the general officers, that before he was twenty-one years of 
age, he was promoted over all the captains in the regiment 
to a majority in the line. The officers, who were thus super 
seded, although they entertained the highest opinion of his 
talents and usefulness in the army, and felt disposed to make 
every sacrifice consistent with honor to retain him, were in- 

41 



S22 MACPHERSON. 

duced by a regard for their rank, to remonstrate against this 
appointment. 

Believing that, under these peculiar circumstances, the 
good of the service and the prosperity of the great cause for 
which we were contending, required his resignation, he ten- 
dered it to general Washington, assigning the above circum- 
stances as the only cause. Sensible of the force of Major 
Macclintock's reasons, general Washington accepted his re- 
signation, and he retired from the army much regretted by the 
commander in chief and all the general officers of his acquain- 
tance. He returned home in 1779. Wishing to do something 
more in the service of his country, he embarked as captain of 
marines on board the private armed ship, general Sullivan, 
of 20 guns, captain Manning, commander, and having cap- 
tured a British ship of war, they manned her to cruize in 
company. Major Macclintock was second to his friend, 
lieutenant Broadstreet, in command of this ship. In an en- 
engagement in 1780, under great disadvantage, with two of 
the enemy's ships of vastly superior force, lieutenant Broad- 
street's ship was captured and Major Macclintock was killed 
by a ball through his head. Thus fell as promising a young 
man as the state of New-Hampshire at that time contained. 

MACPHERSON, William, was the son of captain John 
Macpherson, a Scotch gentleman, who came to America about 
thirty years before the declaration of independence, and of 
Margaret Rodgers, the sister of the late Reverend Dr. John 
Rodgers, of New York. He was born in Philadelphia, in 
the year 1756, and there received the early part of his educa- 
tion, which was finished at Princeton, in New Jersey. At the 
age of thirteen he received the appointment of cadet in the 
British army, and before the declaration of independence, his 
father having purchased for him a lieutenant's commission, 
lie was made adjutant of the l6th regiment. Mr. Macpher- 
son was with his regiment at Pcnsacola, at the commencement 
of the revolutionary war, at which 1 period he offered to resign 
his commission, but his resignation was not accepted. Se- 
veral years afterwards, on the arrival of the 16th regiment at 
New York, sir Henry Clinton permitted Mr. Macpherson to 
resign his commission, in consequence of his declaring that 
he never would bear arms against his countrymen. He was 
not, however, allowed to sell his commission, for which his 
father had given a considerable sum of money. He joined the 
American army on the river Hudson, above New York, about 
the end of the year 1779, and as general Washington had 
known him for many years, and understood the value of the 
sacrifice he had made for the good of his country, the appoint- 



MACPHERSON. 325 

ment of major by brevet, in the American army, was confer- 
red upon him. 

Major Macpherson was for some time aid-de-camp to gen- 
eral La Fayette, and was afterwards appointed by general 
Washington to the command of a partizan corps of* cavalry, 
which served in Virginia, in 1781. The appointment of so 
young an officer to so honorable a command, appears to have 
been a cause of dissatisfaction to the colonels and lieutenant 
colonels of the Pennsylvania line, and to have induced them 
to make application to general Washington on the subject, 
through the medium of generals Wayne and Irvine. It is be- 
lieved that this circumstance never became public, the officers 
having been satisfied by the unanswerable arguments and ir- 
resistible appeals to their patriotism and honour, contained 
in the following letter from general Washington, dated 1 lth 
August, 1780, addressed to generals Wayne and Irvine: 

"Head Quarters, Tapp an, August 11, 1780. 
f Gentlemen, 

" I cannot but premise my answer to your letter of yester- 
day, by observing, that the refusal of the colonels and lieuten- 
ant colonels of your line, to comply with my request for stating 
in writing their motives to the part they have taken in the af- 
fair of major Macpherson, is to me as extraordinary as unex- 
pected. I assure you, I had not the least idea there could 
have been any difficulty in the matter, and had no other rea- 
son for desiring it, than that which I assigned to you; to pre- 
vent a possibility of misrepresentation. 

"Though I consider the conduct of the gentlemen concern- 
ed as extremely exceptionable, in every point of view, yet as 
I attribute it to misapprehension, as I have a good opinion of 
their intentions, and the highest sense of their patriotism, 
their zeal for the service, their talents and merit; as I should 
esteem their resignation an injury to the army, not only by 
the loss of so many good officers, but by deranging a very 
valuable corps of troops; as I wish the motives to the step I 
have taken, to be well understood by them, I shall recapitur 
late the substance of the conversation which passed between 
us at our interview, and request you once more, to call their 
attention to it, before they come to a final determination. I 
wish them to be assured that on the appointment of major 
Macpherson, I did not imagine it could, by any construction, 
be deemed injurious to their rights, or prejudicial to their 
honour; and that they cannot be more tender of both, them- 
selves, than I have been, and ever should be: that though I 
have the best opinion of that gentleman's qualifications, the 
choice of him was not founded on any preference derogatory 
to them ; that from the fullest information of the practice of 



324 MACPHKRSON. 

all other armies, I was convinced the appointment was agreea- 
ble to military rule; that it appeared to me, by the articles of 
war, and repeated resolutions of congress, to he agreeable to 
our own constitution; that the estimation in which Mr. Mac- 
pherson seemed to be held by the whole Pennsylvania line ; 
the former application of some of the officers to me in his 
behalf: the sacrifice he made to his principles, by quitting a 
service in which he had a handsome existence ; his being a 
native of the same state, and a man of acknowledged capacity 
and worth, left me no doubt that the officers of your line, 
would, with pleasure, see him placed in a situation, which 
would enable him to be useful to the public, and to do credit 
to himself. 

" A command in the light corps offered itself as an unex- 
ceptionable mode for answering this purpose. Corps formed 
by detachments are the usual method in which brevet officers 
are employed ; as they cannot be introduced into regiments 
without displacing otber officers, or violating the right of 
succession; both of which are justly deemed injurious in every 
service. But the reasoning is new, by which the employ- 
ing such officers in detached corps, is made an infringement 
of the rights of regimental officers. Military rank, and an 
elegibility to military command, are ideas which cannot be 
separated. Take away the latter, and the former becomes an 
unmeaning sound. The principle being admitted, would in 
our army degrade many officers who have every claim to the 
consideration of their country, and to the justice of their fel- 
low soldiers, some of whom have been in the army since the 
commencement of the war; have relinquished regimental sta- 
tions, by which, in the natural course of succession, they would 
have been higher in rank than they now are ; have made as 
great sacrifices as many others; and yield to none in merit 
or in useful service. To wish to exclude them from the most 
essential privilege of an officer, is alike inconsistent with jus- 
tice and generosity; and on cooler reflection, the liberality of 
sentiments, which I believe the gentlemen concerned to pos- 
sess, will not suffer them to persist in such a design. 

" The practice of other armies, in all cases not expressly 
provided for, is the best standard by which we can form our 
notions, and it would have obviated many difficulties, if it 
had been been better known, or more attended to. If parti- 
cular officers are to depart from that, and set up new distinc- 
tions as it suits their interest or fancy, there is an end to all 
order and subordination. Every thing is set afloat upon the 
precarious footing of as many different opinions as there are 
individuals that compose the army. It is too notorious to be 
denied, that the practice of other armies, (not less than our 



MACPHERSON. 325 

own) warrants the appointment of major Macpherson to his 
present command. I understand, however, from you, gentle- 
men, that a line has hcen drawn, and applied to the present 
case, between temporary and permanent commands: admitting 
this distinction to be good, detachments which are again to 
return to their corps, can be deemed nothing else than tempo- 
rary commands; whether they are out for a week, for a month, 
br for a campaign, they are still temporary. The permanent 
commands arc of regiments, and other established corps: if 
we appeal to precedent, here also we shall find the period for 
brevet commands indefinite. 

"You inform mc that a distinction was also made between a 
detachment from one line, and a detachment from different 
lines, and that no objection would have arisen if the corps to 
which major Macpherson was appointed, had been composed 
partly of Pennsylvania and partly of other troops. Though 
there are particular quotas of troops furnished by the several 
states, the whole compose one army, and the commissions are 
from the same authority, with different designations: all de- 
tachments, therefore, whether from one line, or from more 
than one, must be subject to the same rules ; and if a brevet 
is not to operate upon a detachment from one line, I see no 
principle upon which it can have effect in detachments from 
different lines, united together. 

"If it be allowed that brevet commissions create a capa- 
bility of temporary command by detachment, and that the 
light infantry answers to this description, then the propriety 
of appointing major Macpherson can only be questioned on 
two principles; a want of qualifications, or being appointed 
out of course. The first would be inadmissible, because the 
officer commanding the army has alone the right to judge, and 
if he made an injudicious choice, the officers might entertain 
what private opinions they pleased, but they could not make 
it the subject of official complaint. If it be said, major Mac- 
pherson was appointed out of course, and that the officers of 
light infantry should be taken by roster, as in the common 
routine of service, let the practice of armies, as in the other 
case, be recurred to, and it will be found that no regard is 
paid to the roster in similar corps. It is an undisputed pri- 
vilege of the commander in chief to officer them as he 
pleases. 

" The same was done last year, nor would scarcely an offi- 
cer then in the corps have been appointed, if the principle in 
question had been observed. No objection, however, that I 
ever heard of, was made on the score, and why should the offi- 
cers of the Pennsylvania line be singular in making it now? 
or why not make it in the case of colonel Stewart, as well as 



S2G MACPHERSON. 

of major Macpherson? His appointment, no more than that 
of the latter, can he justified by the roster. The good sense 
of every officer of discernment must decide against this rule 
for a variety of obvious considerations. 

" For these reasons, and others equally decisive, it is im- 
possible for me to revoke the appointment. I view the mea- 
sure the gentlemen concerned have entered into, as peculiarly 
intemperate, hasty, and ill-judged. I sincerely hope they may 
be induced to re-consider it, and change their resolution. On 
my part, I shall be happy to forget what has happened, and to 
continue to them the same share of my esteem, which they 
have merited and possessed. I am persuaded their rights in 
the present case are untouched. I am conscious I had no in- 
tention to injure them. I cannot pretend an indifference to 
the conduct they may observe, because, as I have already con- 
fessed, I shall consider their quitting the service, as a serious 
detriment to it. They ought also, as good citizens and good 
men, to realize the consequences, and to assure themselves 
they act upon substantial grounds, before they venture to exe- 
cute what they have intimated. They ought to recollect that 
they cannot hereafter be happy, if they find their conduct con- 
demned by the country and by the army, especially if it has 
been the cause of any misfortune. They should remember 
that we have actually entered upon the operations of the cam- 
paign; that we are men in the vicinity of the enemy, and in 
a position that makes an action not very improbable, perhaps 
(if my intelligence is true) not very remote. When they duly 
weigh these things, they cannot but be sensible that the love 
of their country; the obligations of their respective stations ; 
what they owe to their own characters, and to that discipline 
which ought to be sacred among military men; all these mo- 
tives call upon them to relinquish the intention they have sug- 
gested. It is true, we have not many considerations of in- 
terest to attach us to the service; hut we have those of honour 
and public good in a high degree, and I flatter myself these 
ties will not prove too feeble. 

"I wish you to communicate this letter as well to the majors 
as to the other field officers; and if they still persist, I shall 
think I have discharged my duty to them and to the public. 

" I am, with great esteem, 

Gentlemen, 

Your most obedient servant, 
GO: WASHINGTON, 
Generals Wayne and Irvine." 

The foregoing letter, the original of which in general Wash- 
ington's hand-writing, is now in the possession of a member 
of general Macpherson's family, shows very clearly the high 



MANLY. S27 

opinion entertained by the former of the character of the lat- 
ter, and of the sacrifices he had made to the welfare of his 
country. Major Macpherson always retained the esteem and 
friendship of the commander in chief, and his services during 
the revolutionary war, were rewarded by president Washing- 
ton by the appointment of surveyor of the port of Philadelphia, 
by commission dated 1 9th September, 1789. On March 8th, 
1792, a new commission was issued, appointing him inspector 
of the revenue for the port of Philadelphia, and on the 28th 
November, 1793, he was appointed naval officer of the port of 
Philadelphia, which office he held until his death, in 1813; be- 
ing continued therein during the successive administrations of 
president Adams, Jefferson and Madison. 

In the year 1794, upon the manifestation of opposition in 
some of the western counties of Pennsylvania, to the excise 
law, enacted in the previous session of congress, a large 
and respectable body of the citizens of Philadelphia, form- 
ed themselves into several companies, and invited major 
Macpherson to place himself at their head. They were orga- 
nized into a battalion, and in compliment to him, they styled 
themselves Macpherson's Blues. This fine corps formed a 
part of the army commanded by governor Mifflin on the wes- 
tern expedition, and was universally respected for its patrio- 
tism and dicipline. Before the return of the army to Philadel- 
phia, major Macpherson was promoted to the rank of colonel, 
and subsequently was appointed by governor Mifflin, a briga- 
dier general in the militia of Pennsylvania. On the occasion 
of war with France in 1798, the Blues were re-organised, and 
with the addition of several companies, consisting of calvary, 
artillery, grenadiers and riflemen, were formed into a legion 
under the command of general Macpherson. On the 11th of 
March, 1799, general Macpherson was appointed by president 
Adams abrigadier general of the provisional army, and was se- 
lected to command the troops sent into Northampton county 
to enforce obedience to the revenue laws. After the disband- 
ing of the provisional army, general Macpherson retired from 
military life to his country seat near Philadelphia, where he re- 
sided until his death which took place in November, 1813, in 
consequence of hemorrhage caused by a schirrous tumour on 
his neck. The greater part of his life had been spent in the 
active service of his country, and he was universally beloved 
for his urbanity and generosity, and respected for his integ- 
rity, honour, and patriotism. 

MANLY, John, a captain in the navy of the United 
States, received a naval commission from Washington, com- 
mander in chief of the American forces, October 24, 1775. 
Invested with the command of the schooner Lee, he kept the 



328 MANLY. 

hazardous station of Massachusetts bay, during a most tem- 
pestuous season, and the captures which he made were of im- 
mense value at the moment. An ordnance brig, which fell 
into his hands, supplied the continental army with heavy pie- 
ces, mortars and working tools, of which it was very destitute, 
and in the event led to the evacuation of Boston. His services 
were the theme of universal eulogy. 

The spirit of enterprise, encouraged by success, he sailed 
in the privateer Hancock, on a cruise, and falling in with his 
Britannic majesty's sloop of war Fox. compelled her to sur- 
render. This capture increased his high reputation for bra- 
very and skill. Some time after this, commanding the priva- 
teer Jason, he was attacked by two British privateers, the one 
of eighteen, the other of ten guns. He reserved his fire till 
he came close upon them; run his vessel betwixt the two, and 
by a well-directed broadside, fired into each, compelled them 
beth to strike their colours and surrender. The Americans 
had already learnt to fire with deliberation and effect. Short 
as the contest was, the larger privateer lost thirty of her 
crew. But he was taken prisoner with his prize, by the Rain- 
bow, of forty guns, July 8, 1777, and suffered a long and ri- 
gorous confinement on board that ship at Halifax, and in Mill 
prison, which precluded him from further actual service till 
near the close of the war. 

In September 1782, the Hague frigate was entrusted to his 
care. The cruise was peculiarly unhappy. A few days after 
leaving Martinque, he was driven by a British seventy four 
on a sand bank, at the back of Guadaloupe. Three ships of 
the line having joined this ship, came too within point blank 
shot, and with springs on their cables opened a most tremendous 
fire. Having supported the heavy cannonade for three days, 
on the fourth day the frigate was got oft", and hoisting the con- 
tinental standard at the main top-gallant-mast, thirteen guns 
were fired in farewell defiance. On his return to Boston, a 
few months afterwards, he was arrested to answer a variety of 
charges exhibited against him by one of his officers. The pro- 
ceedings of the court were not altogether in appprobation of 
his conduct. He died in Boston, February 12, 1793, in the 
sixtieth year of his age. 

MARION, Francis, colonel in the regular service, and 
brigadier-general in the militia of South Carolina, was born 
in the vicinity of Georgetown, in South Carolina, in the year 
1733. 

Young Marion, at the age of sixteen, entered on board a 
vessel bound to the West Indies, with a determination to fit 
himself for a seafaring life. On his outward passage, the ves- 
sel was upset in a gale of wind, when the crew took to their 



MARION. 329 

boat without water or provisions, it being impracticable to 
save any of either. A dog jumped into the boat with the 
crew, and upon his flesh, eaten raw, did the survivors of these 
unfortunate men subsist for seven or eight days; in which pe- 
riod several died of hunger. 

Among the few who escaped was young Marion. After 
reaching land, Marion relinquished his original plan of life, 
and engaged in the labours of agriculture. In this occupa- 
tion he conntinued until 1759, when he became a soldier, and 
was appointed a lieutenant in a company of volunteers, raised 
for an expedition against the Cherokee Indians, commanded 
by captain William Moultrie, (since general Moultrie.) This 
expedition was conducted by governor Lyttleton : it was fol- 
lowed in a year or two afterwards by another invasion of the 
Cherokee country by colonel Grant, who served as major-gen- 
eral in our war under sir William Howe. 

In this last expedition lieutenant Marion also served, hav- 
ing been promoted to the rank of captain. As soon as the war 
broke out between the colonics and the mother country, Ma- 
rion was called to the command of a company in the first corps 
raised by the state of South Carolina. He was soon after- 
wards promoted to a majority, and served in that rank un- 
der colonel Moultrie, in his intrepid defence of fort Moultrie, 
against the combined attack of sir Henry Clinton and sir 
Henry Parker, on the 2d of June, 1776. He was afterwards 
placed at the head of a regiment as lieutenant colonel com- 
mandant, in which capacity he served during the siege of 
Charleston ; when, having fractured his leg by some accident, 
he became incapable of military duty, and fortunately for his 
country, escaped the captivity to which the garrison was, in 
the sequel, forced to submit. 

Upon the fall of Charleston, many of the leading men of the 
state of South Carolina sought personal safety, with their ad- 
herents, in the adjoining states. Delighted at the present 
prospect, these faithful and brave citizens hastened back to 
their country to share in the perils and toils of war. 

Among them were Francis Marion and Thomas Sumpter : 
both colonels in the South Carolina line, and both promoted, 
by governor Rutlcdge to the rank of brigadier general in the 
militia of the state. Enthusiastically wedded to the cause of 
liberty, he deeply deplored the doleful condition of his belov- 
ed country. The common weal was his sole object; nothing 
selfish, nothing mercenary, soiled his ermine character. Fer- 
tile in stratagem, he struck unperceived; and retiring to those 
hidden retreats, selected by himself, in the morasses of Pedee 
and Black River, he placed his corps not only out of the 
reach of his foe, but often out of the discovery of his friends. 

42 



330 MARION. 

A rigid disciplinarian, he reduced to practice the justice of 
his heart; and during the difficult course of warfare, through 
which he passed, calumny itself never charged him with vio- 
lating the rights of person, property, or humanity. Never avoid- 
ing danger, he never rashly sought it; and acting for all around 
him as he did for himself, he risked the lives of his troops 
only when it was necessary. Never elated with prosperity, 
nor depressed by adversity, he preserved an equanimity which 
won the admiration of his friends, and exacted the respect of 
his enemies. The country, from Camden to the sea-coast, be- 
tween the Pedce and Santce, was the theatre of his exertions. 

When Charleston fell into the enemy's hands, lieutenant- 
colonel Marion abandoned his state, and took shelter in North 
Carolina. The moment he recovered from the fracture of his 
leg, he engaged in preparing the means of annoying the ene- 
my, then in the flood-tide of prosperity. With sixteen men 
only he crossed the Santee, and commenced that daring sys- 
tem of warfare which so much annoyed the British army. 

Colonel Peter Horry, in his life of general Marion, gives 
the following interesting incident: "About this time we re- 
ceived a flag from the enemy in Georgetown, South Carolina, 
the object of which was to make some arrangements about the 
exchange of prisoners. The flag, after the usual ceremony 
of blindfolding, was conducted into Marion's encampment. 
Having heard great talk about general Marion, his fancy had 
naturally enough sketched out for him some stout figure of a 
warrior, such as O'Hara, or Cornwallis himself, of martial 
aspect and flaming regimentals. But what was his surprise, 
when led into Marion's presence, and the bandage taken from 
his eyes, he beheld, in our hero, a swarthy, smoke-dried little 
man, with scarcely enough of thread-bare homespun to cover 
his nakedness! and, instead of tall ranks of gay-dressed sol- 
diers, a handful of sun-burnt, yellow-legged militia-men; some 
roasting potatoes, and some asleep, with their black firelocks 
and powder-horns lying by them on the logs. Having recov- 
ered a little from his surprise, he presented his letter to gen 
eral Marion, who perused it, and soon settled every thing t» 
his satisfaction. 

The officer took up his hat to retire. 

'Oh no!' said Marion, 'it is now about our time of dining, 
and I hope, sir, you will give us the pleasure of your compa- 
ny to dinner.' 

At mention of the word dinner, the British officer looked 
around him, but to his great mortification could see no sign 
of a pot, pan, Dutch oven, or any other cooking utensil, that 
could raise the spirits of a hungry man. 

'Well, Tom,' said the general to one of his men, 'come, 
give us our dinner.' 



MARION. 531 

The dinner to which he alluded, was no other than a heap 
of sweet potatoes, that were very snugly roasting under the 
embers, and which Tom, with his pine stick poker soon lib- 
erated from their ashy confinement; pinching them every now 
and then with his fingers, especially the big ones, to see whe- 
ther they were well done or not. Then, having cleansed 
them of the ashes, partly by blowing them with his breath and 
partly by brushing them with the sleeve of his old cotton shirt, 
he piled some of the best on a large piece of bark, and placed 
them between the British officer and Marion, on the trunk of 
the fallen pine on which they sat. 

'I fear, sir,' said the general, 'our dinner will not prove so 
palatable to you as I could wish; but it is the best we have.' 

The officer, who was a well bred man, took up one of the 
potatoes and affected to feed, as if he had found a great dain- 
ty; but it was very plain that he ate more from good manners 
than good appetite. 

Presently he broke out into a hearty laugh. Marion look- 
ed surprised. 'I beg pardon, general,' said he, 'but one can- 
not, you know, always command one's conceits. I was think- 
ing how drolly some of my brother officers would look, if our 
government were to give them such a bill of fare as this.' 

'I suppose,' replied Marion, 'it is not equal to their style 
of dining.' 

'No, indeed,' quoth the officer, 'and this, I imagine, is one 
of your accidental lent dinners: a sort of banyan. In gene- 
ral, no doubt, you live a great deal better.' 

'Rather worse,' answered the general, 'for often we don't 
get enough of this.' 

'Heavens!' rejoined the officer; 'but probably what you 
lose in meal you make up in malt, though stinted in provisioiis, 
you draw noble pay. 9 

i JS'ot a cent, sir, 9 said Marion, l not a cent. 9 

'Heavens and earth! then you must be in a bad box. I 
don't see, general, how you can stand it.' 

' Why, sir,' replied Marion, with a smile of self-approba- 
tion, ' these things depend on feeling.' 

The Englishman said, < he did not believe it would be an 
easy matter to reconcile his feelings to a soldier's life on ge- 
neral Marion's terms: all fighting, no pay, and no provisions, 
but patatoes.' 

' Why, sir,' answered the general, ' the heart is all; and 
when that is much interested, a man can do any thing. Many 
a youth would think it hard to indent himself a slave for four- 
teen years. But let him be over head and ears in love, and 
with such a beauteous sweetheart as Rachael, and he will think 
no more of fourteen years servitude, than young Jacob did. 



532 MARION. 

Well, now this is exactly my case. I am in love ; ami my 
sweetheart is Liberty. Be that heavenly nymph my cham- 
pion, and these woods shall have charms beyond London and 
Paris in slavery. To have no proud monarch driving over 
me with his gilt coaches ; nor his host of excisemen and tax- 
gatherers, insulting and robbing; but to be my own master, 
my own prince and sovereign; gloriously preserving my na- 
tional dignity, and pursuing my true happiness; planting my 
vineyards, and eating their lucious fruit; sowing my fields, 
and reaping the golden grain; and seeing millions of brothers 
all around me, equally free and happy as myself. This, sir, 
is what 1 long for.' 

The officer replied, that both as a man and a Briton, he 
must certainly subscribe to this as a happy state of things. 

'Happy,' quoth Marion, 'yes, happy indeed: and I would 
rather fight for such blessings for my country, and feed on 
roots, than keep aloof though wallowing in all the luxuries 
of Solomon. For now, sir, I walk the soil that gave me 
birth, and exult in the thought, that I am not unworthy of it. 
I look upon these venerable trees around me, and feel that I 
do not dishonour them. I think of my own sacred rights, and 
rejoice that I have not basely deserted them. And when I 
look forward to the long, long ages of posterity, I glory in the 
thought that I am fighting their battles. The children of dis- 
tant generations may never hear my name; but still it glad- 
dens my heart to think that I am now contending for their 
freedom, with all its countless blessings.' 

I looked at Marion as he uttered these sentiments, and fan- 
cied I felt as when I heard the last words of the brave De 
Kalb. The Englishman hung his honest head and looked, I 
thought, as if he had seen the upbraiding ghosts of his illus- 
trious countrymen, Sidney and Hamdcn. 

On his return to Georgetown, he was asked by colonel 
Watson, why he looked so serious? 

* I have cause, sir,' said he, < to look so serious.' 

'What! has general Marion refused to treat?' 

'No, sir.' 

'Well, then, has old Washington defeated sir Henry Clin- 
ton, and broke up our army?' 

'No, sir, not that neither, but worse. 9 

' Ah! what can be worse?' 

'Why, sir, I have seen an American general and his offi- 
cers, without pay. and almost without clothes, living on roots, 
and drinking water; and all for Liberty ! ! What chance 
have we against such men ?' 

It is said colonel Watson was not much obliged to him for 
his speech. But the young officer was so struck with Ma • 



MATHEWS— MERCER. 333 

vion's sentiments, that he never rested until he threw up his 
commission, and retired from the service." 

General Marion was in stature of the smallest size, thin as 
well as low. His visage was not pleasing, and his manners 
not captivating. He was reserved and silent, entering into 
conversation only when necessary, and then with modesty and 
good sense. 

He possessed a strong mind, improved hy its own reflec- 
tions and observations, not by books or travel. His dress 
was like his address ; plain, regarding comfort and decency 
only. In his meals he was abstemious, eating generally of 
one dish, and drinking water mostly. 

He was sedulous and constant in his attention to the duties 
of his station, to which every other consideration yielded. 

The procurement of subsistence for his men, and the con- 
trivance of annoyance to his enemy, engrossed his entire mind. 
He was virtuous all over; never, even in manner, much less 
in reality, did he trench upon right. Beloved by his friends, 
and respected by his enemies, he exhibited a luminous exam- 
ple of the beneficial effects to be produced by an individual, 
who, with only small means at his command, possesses a vir- 
tuous heart, a strong head, and a mind devoted to the com- 
mon good. After the war the general married, but had no 
issue. 

General Marion died in February, 1795, leaving behind 
him an indisputable title to the first rank among the patriots 
and soldiers of our revolution. 

MATHEWS, Thomas, was one of those who early em- 
barked in the cause of his country in the revolutionary war, 
and continued a steady and determined supporter of American 
rights in every stage of the long,- doubtful, and arduous con- 
test. He was afterwards speaker of the house of delegates of 
Virginia. In public life general Matthews was useful and in- 
telligent, in private life, he was kind, affectionate, sociable, 
polite and benevolent. He died at Norfolk, Virginia, on the 
twentieth of April, 1812. General Mathews was respected 
and esteemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. 

MERCER, Hugh, was born at Aberdeen, in the north of 
Scotland, and received his education in the university of that 
place. His profession was that of physician, and he acted in 
the capacity of surgeon's mate, at the memorable battle of 
Culloden. Soon after that event, (1746) he left his native 
country, and came to this. He settled in the then colony of 
Pennsylvania, and took an active part in the wars of that day, 
carried on in the back parts of the settlement, against the sa- 
vages. He was with general Braddock in the disastrous cam- 
paign of 1755, and was thus early the companion in arms of 



334 MERCER. 

the illustrious Washington. He served in the expedition under 
colonel Armstrong, in the year 1756, and received a medal 
for his good conduct at the battle of Kittaning, from the cor- 
poration of the city of Philadelphia. This mark of approba- 
tion is still preserved by his children, as a sacred memorial of 
his public worth, and private virtues. In this battle, which 
terminated in the defeat of the Indians and the destruction of 
their town, general Mercer was severely wounded in the right 
arm, which was broken. Upon that occasion he narrowly 
escaped being taken prisoner, and being separated from his 
party, wandered a fortnight in the wilderness, slaking his 
thirst in the brook of the forest, and subsisting on the body 
of a rattle-snake which he had killed, until he reached the 
settled country. 

Being a physician, he applied temporary relief to his wound. 
While wandering in the woods, much exhausted from loss of 
blood, and the want of proper food .and nourishment, and sur- 
rounded by hostile savages, he took refuge in a hollow tree 
which lay on the ground. In that situation he was, when 
many of the savages came up, and seated themselves on the 
tree. They remained there some time, and departed without 
discovering that a wounded soldier and foe was near them. 
General Mercer then endeavoured to return by the route in 
which the army had advanced, and, incredible as it may ap- 
pear, he reached Fort Cumberland, through a trackless wild, 
of more than a hundred miles, with no other nutriment than 
that already mentioned. 

After the peace of 1763, doctor Mercer came from Penn- 
sylvania, and settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and mar- 
ried Isabella, the youngest daughter of John and Margaret 
Gordon. 

General Mercer was a zealous advocate for the rights of the 
colonists; and upon the breaking out of the war between them 
and the mother country, was among the first who entered the 
revolutionary army. He was soon afterwards honoured by 
congress with a brigadier general's commission. For a long 
time previous to the American revolution, he pursued his pro- 
fession as a physician, and had a very extensive practice. To 
the poor, he was studiously kind, often bestowing on them his 
professional attendance ; and in his last will, he left it in 
special charge to his executors, not to require payment of the 
debts due by those in indigent circumstances. 

General Mercer's brigade formed a part of the left wing of 
Washington's army, in the capture of the Hessians, at Tren- 
ton, in December, 1776. The battle of Princeton, on the 
morning of the 3d of January, 1777, was commenced by ge- 
neral Mercer with his column, consisting of about three hun- 



MERCER. S3i 

dred and fifty men, near Stoney-brook. Upon hearing the 
firing, general Washington, in person, led on his force to the 
support of Mercer, with two pieces of artillery. The force 
engaged against him was the British 17th regiment, com- 
manded by colonel Mawhood. After the third fire, in conse- 
quence of a charge made by the British, Mercer's corps, 
chiefly raw militia, fled in disorder. 

General Mercer made great exertions to rally them, and 
was much exposed to the enemy's fire. His horse becoming 
restiffand unmanageable, he dismounted, thinking he could 
then the more effectually rally his broken troops, but he was 
surrounded by the enemy, whom he resisted with great deter- 
mination and bravery, but was overpowered. It is said that he 
was stabbed after he had surrendered. General Washington 
coming up at this juncture, changed the fortune of the day. 
After the battle of Princeton, general Mercer lived a week, 
being about fifty-five years of age. He was buried at Prince- 
ton, but the body was afterwards removed to Philadelphia, 
and interred in Christ church-yard, with military honours. 
Provision was made by congress, in 1793, for the education 
of his youngest son, Hugh Mercer. 

General Wilkinson, in his memoirs, in giving the particu- 
lars of the battle of Princeton, says: "But in general Mercer 
we lost a chief, who for education, experience, talents, dispo- 
sition, integrity and patriotism, was second to no man but the 
commander in chief, and was qualified to fill the higher trusts 
of the country." General Wilkinson, in the same work, ob- 
serves, "That the evening of January 1st, 1777, was spent 
with general St. Clair, by several oflicers, of whom Mercer 
was one, who, in conversation, made some remarks disapprov- 
ing the appointment of captain William Washington to a ma- 
jority in the horse, which was not relished by the company: 
he thus explained himself :" " We are not engaged in a war 
of ambition ; if it had been so, I should never have accepted 
a commission under a man (Patrick Henry) who had never 
seen a day's service; we serve not for ourselves, but for our 
country: and every man should be content to fill the place in 
which he can be most useful. I know Washington to be a 
good captain of infantry, but I know not what sort of a ma- 
jor of horse he may make ; and I have seen good captains 
make indifferent majors. For my own part, my views in this 
contest are confined to a single object, that is, the success of 
the cause, and God can witness how cheerfully I would lay 
down my life to secure it." 

Little did he then expect, that a few fleeting moments would 
have sealed the compact. His death was a most serious loss 
to his country, his family and friends. 



< 



356 MEIGS. 

MEIGS, Return, Jonathan, was born in Middletown, 
in the state of Connecticut. Immediately after the battle of 
Lexington, which opened the bloody drama of the revolution, 
he marched a company of light infantry, completely uniform- 
ed and equipped, which he had previously organized and dis- 
ciplined, for the environs of Boston. He was soon appointed 
a major by the state of Connecticut, and marched with colonel 
Arnold in his tedious and suffering expedition to Canada. In 
the bold enterprise of storming Quebec, he commanded a bat- 
talion ; and, after penetrating within the walls of the city, was 
made prisoner, together with captains Morgan and Dearborn, 
since become generals, and well distinguished in American 
history. In 1776, major Meigs was exchanged, and return- 
ed home. In 1777. general Washington appointed him co- 
lonel, with authority to raise a regiment. Colonel Meigs, 
having raised a part of his regiment, marched to New-Haven, 
to carry into execution a plan projected for the surprisal and 
destruction or a part of the enemy at Sag-Harbour, on Long 
Island, where large quantities of stores and forage had been 
collected for the army at New-York ; the account of which is 
given in " Marshall's life of Washington," as follows. 

" General Parsons intrusted the execution of this plan to 
colonel Meigs, a very gallant officer, who had accompanied 
Arnold in his memorable inarch to Quebec, and had been ta- 
ken prisoner in the unsuccessful attempt made on that place 
by Montgomery. He embarked with about two hundred and 
thirty men on board thirteen whale-boats, and proceeded along 
the coast to Guilford, from whence he was to cross the Sound. 
Here he was detained some time by high winds and a rough 
sea; but on the 23d of May, about one o'clock in the afternoon, 
he re-embarked one hundred and seventy of his detachment, 
and proceeded, under convoy of two armed sloops, across the 
Sound, to the north division of the Island near Southold. The 
east end of Long Island is deeply intersected by a bay, on the 
north side of which had been a small foraging party, against 
which the expedition was in part directed; but they had 
marched to New-York two days before. 

"Here, however, information was received, that the stores 
had not been removed from Sag-Harbour, which lies in the 
northern division of the Island, and that a small guard still re- 
mained there for their defence. The boats were immediately 
conveyed across the land, a distance of about fifteen miles, in- 
to the bay, where the troops re-embarked, and crossing the 
bay', landed within four miles of Sag-Harbour, at two o'clock 
in the morning; which place they completely surprised, and 
carried with fixed bayonets. At the same time a division of 
the detachment secured the armed schooner and the vessels, 



MEIGS. 337 

with the forage which had been collected for the supply of the 
army at New-York. These brigs and sloops, twelve in num- 
ber, were set on fire and entirely consumed. Six of the ene- 
my were killed and ninety of them taken prisoners; a very 
few escaped under cover of the night. Colonel Meigs return- 
ed to Guilford with his prisoners; having thus completely ef- 
fected the object of the expedition, without the loss of a single 
man, and having moved with such uncommon celerity, as to 
have transported his men by land and water ninety miles in 
twenty-five hours. 

" As a mark of their approbation of his conduct, congress 
directed a sword to be presented to him, and passed a resolu- 
tion expressive of their high sense entertained of his merit, and 
of the prudence, activity and valour, displayed by himself and 
his party, in this expedition." 

In 1779, colonel Meigs commanded one of the regiments 
which stormed and carried Stony Point, under general 
Wayne. 

He was one of the first settlers of the wilderness, which 
tias since become the state of Ohio ; having landed at the 
confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, with the ear- 
liest emigrants. A government for the north western terri- 
tory had been prepared, by an ordinance of the Congress of 
1787. Governor St. Clair, and the judges of the territory 
had not arrived. The emigrants were without civil laws or 
civil authority. Colonel Meigs drew up a concise system of 
regulations, which were agreed to by the emigrants, as the 
rule of conduct and preservation, until the proper authorities 
should arrive. To give these regulations publicity, a large 
oak, standing near the confluence of the rivers, was selected, 
from which the bark was cut off, of sufficient space to attach 
the sheet, on which the regulations were written ; and they 
were beneficially adhered to until the civil authorities arrived. 
This venerable oak was, to the emigrants, more useful, and 
as frequently consulted, as the oracle of ancient Delphos, by 
its votaries. 

During a long life of activity and usefulness, no man ever 
sustained a character more irreproachable than colonel Meigs. 
He was a pattern of excellence as a patriot, a philanthropist, 
and a Christian. In all the vicissitudes of fortune, the duties 
of religion were strictly observed, and its precepts strikingly 
exemplified. The latter part of his life was devoted to the 
amelioration of the condition of the aborigines of the country, 
for which purpose he accepted the agency of the Cherokee sta- 
tion ; and in the discharge of his duties he inspired the high- 
est degree of confidence in that nation, by whom he was em- 
phatically denominated " The White Path." In all cases 

43 



338 MIFFLIN— MILLER* 

they revered him as their father, and obeyed his counsel as an 
unerring guide. 

His death is a loss to the country, and especially to that sta- 
tion. His remains were interred with the honours of war, 
amidst a concourse of sincere friends, and in the anguish of un- 
dissembled sorrow. His death was serenely happy in the as- 
surance of Christian hope. He died on the 28th of January, 
1823, at the Cherokee Agency. 

MIFFLIN, Thomas, a major general in the American army 
during the revolutionary war, and governor of Pennsylvania, 
was born in the year 1744, of parents who were quakers. — 
His education was intrusted to the care of the reverend Dr. 
Smith, with whom he was connected in habits of cordial inti- 
macy and friendship, for more than forty years. Active and 
zealous, he engaged early in opposition to the measures of the 
British parliament. He was a member of the first congress 
in 1774. He took arms, and was among the first officers 
commissioned on the organization of the continental army, be- 
ing appointed quarter-master-general in August, 1775. For 
this offence he was read out of the society of Quakers. In 
1777, he was very useful in animating the militia, and enkin- 
dling the spirit, which seemed to have been damped. His san- 
guine disposition and his activity rendered him insensible to 
the value of that coolness and caution, which were essential to 
the preservation of such an army, as was then under the com- 
mand of general Washington. In 1787, he was a member of 
the convention, which framed the constitution of the Unit- 
ed States, and his signature is affixed to that instrument. 
In October, 1788, he succeeded Franklin as president of 
the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, in which 
station he continued till October, 1790. In September a con- 
stitution for this state was formed by a convention, in which 
he presided, and he was chosen the first governor. In 1794, 
during the insurrection in Pennsylvania, he employed, to the 
advantage of his country, the extraordinary powers of elocu- 
tion, with which he was endowed. The imperfection of the 
militia laws was compensated by his eloquence. He made a 
circuit through the lower counties, and, at different places, 
publicly addressed the militia on the crisis in the affairs of 
their country, and through his animating exortations, the state 
furnished the quota required. He was succeeded in the office 
of governor by Mr. M'Kean, at the close of the year 1799. 
He died at Lancaster, January 20, 1800, in the fifty-seventh 
year of his age. He was an active and zealous patriot, who 
had devoted much of his life to the public service. 

MILLER, Henry, was a brave and useful soldier of the 
revolutionary war. He served in the successive rank of lieu- 



M'KEAN. 339 

tenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and eolonel. In 
the retreat across the state of New-Jersey, he performed im- 
portant services in embarrassing the retreat of the enemy. In 
the battle of Monmouth, he had two horses killed under him. 
He was in many battles during the war. In the Western ex- 
pedition, he was quarter-master general. He commanded a 
brigade of militia for the defence of Baltimore, in the late war. 
He had likewise, during his life, filled, with great respect, ma- 
ny civil offices, amongst which was that of superintendant of 
the revenue for the district of Pennsylvania, to which office 
he was appointed by president Adams. 

He died on the 5th of April, 1824, at Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

M'KEx\N, Thomas, one of the signers of the declaration 
of independence, afterwards chief justice and governor of the 
state of Pennsylvania, was born on the 1 9th day of March, 
1734, in Chester county, in the then province of Pennsylva- 
nia. His father, William M'Kean, was a native of Ireland, 
but married in this country. The subject of this notice, was 
at an early age placed under the tuition of the Rev. Francis Al- 
lison, D. D. a man of distinguished learning, and who conduct- 
ed the most celebrated academy in the province. In that institu- 
tion, Thomas M'Kean acquired a sound knowledge of the lan- 
guages, and was instructed in the practical branches of the 
mathematics and moral philosophy. He proceeded to New 
Castle, Delaware, and read law in the office of David Kin- 
ney, Esquire. Having been admitted to the bar, he con- 
tinued to reside at New Castle, where he soon acquired a 
solid reputation, and obtained full business. Extending his 
practice into Pennsylvania, he was, in the year 1757, ad- 
mitted to the bar of the supreme court of that province. 
During the early part of his career, he was particularly re- 
markable for his attentive habits of business, and for his de- 
votion to the acquisition of knowledge, and thus laid the 
foundation of his subsequent usefulness and distinction. In 
the year 1762, he was elected a member of assembly for New 
Castle county, and was annually returned for eleven succes- 
sive years, until his removal to Philadelphia, as a place of re- 
sidence; and even after that removal, so great was the confi- 
dence reposed in him by the freeholders of New Castle coun- 
ty, that they elected him annually for six years more, though 
he frequently communicated to them, through the newspapers, 
his desire to decline the honour. At the end of this period, 
after he had represented Delaware in congress, and become 
chief justice of Pennsylvania, an occurrence took place of so 
interesting a character, that we think it worthy of being re- 
lated to our readers. On the day of the general election in 



640 M'KEAN. 

Delaware, in October, 1779, he waited on his constituents ai 
New Castle, and after a long address on the situation and 
prospects of the United States, in which he displayed the 
wisdom of the statesman, and the energy of the patriot, he 
desired to be no longer considered one of the candidates for 
the state legislature, assigning reasons which were received 
as satisfactory. Soon after he had retired, a committee of 
the electors present waited on him, informed him that they 
would excuse him from serving in the assembly, but request- 
ed, in the name of the electors, that as the times were critical, 
and they could fully rely on his judgment, he would recom- 
mend seven persons in whom they might confide, as represen- 
tatives. So singular a method of exhibiting their confidence 
in him, could not but excite his surprise; however, he instant- 
ly acknowledged the compliment, and desired the committee 
to acquaint his fellow citizens, that he thanked them for the 
honour intended him, but as he knew not only seven, but se- 
venty of the gentlemen then attending the election, whom he 
believed to be worthy of their votes, he felt assured, they 
would not, on further reflection, subject him to the hazard 
of giving offence, by the preference he must show, if he com- 
plied with their request; and hoped to be excused. The com- 
mittee having left him, spon returned, and stated, that the 
electors after hearing his reply, had unanimously reiterated 
their request, and declared, that a compliance by him would 
offend no one. He, thereupon, instantly, though reluctantly, 
wrote down seven names, and handed them to the committee, 
with the observation, that his conduct would at least evidence 
a reciprocity of confidence between them. The election pro- 
ceeded harmoniously, and resulted in the choice of the seven 
gentlemen whom he had thus named. He was afterwards ac- 
customed to speak of this transaction as one of the most gra- 
tifying circumstances of his life. 

Upon the adoption of the first act of the British parliament, 
imposing *'stamp duties'* on the colonies, a congress of com- 
mittees from different legislative assemblies, was, upon the 
suggestion of the assembly of Massachusetts Bay, convened 
at New York, in October, 1765. Of this congress, Mr. 
M'Kean was a representative from Delaware, and was the 
surviving member. He was one of the committee appointed 
to draft an address to the house of commons of Great Bri- 
tain. At this early period, he displayed, in support of the 
lights of his country, that unbending firmness and energy, 
which illustrated his subsequent public conduct. On his re- 
turn to New Castle, he, with his colleague, Mr. Rodney, re- 
ceived the unanimous thanks of the assembly of Delaware. 
He continued to be engaged in various public employments. 



M'KEAN. 34 !, 

and, in 1765, was appointed a justice of the court of common 
pleas ami quarter sessions, and of the orphans' court, for the 
county of New Castle. In Novemher term, 1765, and in 
February term, 1766, he sat on the bench which ordered all 
the officers of the court to proceed in their several vocations, 
as usual, on unstamped paper. This was done accordingly, 
and it is believed this was the first court that made such an 
order, in any of the colonies. 

In relation to all the public events which soon after follow- 
ed, his opinions were firm and decided. He was uniform and 
energetic in resisting the usurpations of the British crown. 
Immediately after the second attempt of the mother country 
to raise a revenue from the colonies, without their consent, 
which was made by an act, imposing a duty on tea, &c. a cor- 
respondence took place among leading and influential cha- 
racters, in most of the colonies, who concerted measures of 
opposition to this proceeding, and procured a meeting of de- 
legates from their respective houses of assembly, at Philadel- 
phia, in September, 1774. Mr. M'Kean took an active part 
in this affair, as he had done in 1765, and was appointed a 
representative of Delaware, though he had, a short time be- 
fore, removed his residence to Philadelphia. At the opening 
of this congress, whose conduct proved it the most glorious 
assemblage which the world ever knew, Mr. M'Kean ap- 
peared as a representative from Delaware. He was annually 
returned as a member, until the independence of his country 
was formally acknowledged by the treaty of peace, in 1783. 

Two circumstances are peculiar in his history, as connect- 
ed with this period. He was the only man who was, without 
intermission of time, a member of the revolutionary congress, 
from the day of its opening, in 1774, till the preliminaries of 
the peace of 1783, were signed. The various public duties 
of different members, with other circumstances, concurred to 
produce this fact. Though he was also engaged in other im- 
portant public affairs, yet his residence at Philadelphia in- 
duced his constituents to continue to return him. The other 
circumstance, to which we refer, is, that while he represent- 
ed the state of Delaware in this congress, until 1783, and was 
in 1781, president of congress, as will be presently stated, 
yet from July, 1777, he held the appointment and executed 
the duties of chief justice of Pennsylvania. Each of these 
states claimed him as her own; and for each were his ta- 
lents faithfully exerted. 

He was particularly active and useful in procuring the de- 
claration of independence, in 1776. Delaware was repre- 
sented in congress by C»sar Rodney, George Read, and 
Thomas M'Kean. Mr. Rodney was absent when the ques- 
tion was discussed in committee of the whole, and Mr. Read 



S42 M'KEAN. 

in committee had voted against the declaration. Delaware* 
was thus divided. All the other states, except Pennsylvania, 
had voted in favour of the measure, and it therefore became 
important to the friends of the declaration, that the votes of 
these two states should be secured. Mr. M'Kean, immedi- 
ately, at his own expense, sent an express for Mr. Rodney, 
who, in consequence of it, arrived in Philadelphia just as con- 
gress was assembling on the morning of the 4th of July. He 
was met at the state house door by Mr. M'Kean. After a 
friendly salutation, and without a word being spoken on the 
subject, they entered the hall together, and took their seats. 
When the vote of Delaware was called, Mr. B-odney rose, in 
his boots and spurs, just as he had arrived, and briefly ex- 
pressing his conviction that the welfare of his country de- 
manded the declaration, voted with Mr. M'Kean, and secur- 
ed the voice of Delaware. The state of Pennsylvania, on 
this day, also joined in the same vote, (two of the members, 
who voted against it in committee, being absent) and thus the 
declaration became the unanimous act of the thirteen states. 

Shortly after the declaration of independence, Mr. M'Kean 
was appointed colonel of a regiment of associators, of the 
city of Philadelphia, and marched at the head of them, to 
support general Washington, until a flying camp often thou- 
sand men was raised. On his return to Philadelphia, he 
found he had been elected a member of the convention for 
forming a constitution for the state of Delaware. He pro- 
ceeded to New Castle, and wrote in a tavern, without a book, 
or any assistance, the constitution which was afterwards? 
adopted. 

On the 10th of July, 1781, he was elected president of con- 
gress. The following extracts from the journal, will illus- 
trate this part of our subject, and it is thought, will prove in- 
teresting to the reader: 

''October 23, 1781, the secretary laid before congress, a 
letter from the president, in the words following: 

" Sir — I must beg you to remind congress, that when they 
did me the honour of electing me president, and before I as- 
sumed the chair, I informed them, that as chief justice of 
Pennsylvania, I should be under the necessity of attending 
the supreme court of that state, in the latter end of Septem- 
ber, or at farthest, in October. That court will be held to- 
day. I must, therefore, request, that they will be pleased to 
proceed to the choice of another president. 

"I am, sir, 

(t With much respect, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 
" THOMAS M'KEAN. 
u Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress." 






M'KEAN. 343 



«< Whereupon, Resolved, That the resignation of Mr. 
M'Kean be accepted. 

" Ordered, That the election of a president, be postponed 
until to-morrow." 

" October 24, 1781. On motion of Mr. Witherspoon, se- 
conded by Mr. Montgomery, 

" Resolved, unanimously, That Mr. M'Kean be requested 
to resume the chair, and act as president, until the first Mon- 
day in November next, the resolution of yesterday, notwith- 
standing." 

" November 5th, 1781. Congress proceeded to the election 
of a president, and the ballot being taken, the Honourable 
John Hanson was elected." 

" November 7, 1781. Resolved, That the thanks of con- 
gress be given to the Honourable Thomas M'Kean, late pre- 
sident of congress, in testimony of their approbation of his 
conduct in the chair, and in the execution of public business." 

His commission, as chief justice of Pennsylvania, was 
dated July 28, 1777. During the progress of the revolution, 
Philadelphia being the seat of government of the states, and an 
object of peculiar watchfulness on the part of the enemy, the 
just performance of Mr. M'Kean's judicial functions requir- 
ed not only the learning of the lawyer, but the unyielding 
spirit of the patriot. We find him proclaiming from the bench 
the law of justice and his country, with distinguished learn- 
ing, ability, and integrity. Regardless of the powers of the 
crown of Great Britain, he did not hesitate to hazard his own 
life, by causing to be punished, even unto death, those who 
were proved to be traitors to their country, while he demon- 
strated that popular excitement against individuals accused 
of offences, could not in the slightest degree divert him from 
the sound and inflexible discharge of his public duty. It was 
energy, tempered with justice and humanity, that carried us 
triumphantly through the terrible conflict. 

Having passed through the trying scenes of the revolution, 
with the well-earned and undisputed reputation of being one 
of the most unwavering and efficient wliigs of the times, he de- 
voted himself to tlie discharge of the duties of chief justice, 
until the year 1799, when lie was elected governor of the com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania. Of his judicial character, we 
have not room to speak at large. In all the qualifications of 
the judge, however, it may, without hesitation, be said, that 
he had few equals in this or any other country. They who 
remember the supreme court of Pennsylvania while he presid- 
ed there, speak of the dignity which it preserved, and the 
reverence which it inspired; and his judicial opinions, at a 
period when the law of the state was unsettled, and when a 



S44 M'KEAN. 

mastermind was requisite to reduce it to a system, have esta- 
blished for him the reputation of being one of the ablest law- 
yers of his country. To the present day, his memory is held 
in the courts, in the most profound respect and veneration, 
and successive judges have, by their unvarying testimony, 
given unfading lustre to his judicial fame. In 1790, he was 
a member of the convention which framed the constitution of 
Pennsylvania. The best talents of the state were engaged in 
this important work, and among them, the force of Mr. 
M'Kean's knowledge and opinions, was felt and justly ap- 
preciated. 

In 1799, he was elected governor of Pennsylvania. His 
election was the result of a warm conflict between the two 
great parties which were then assuming those distinct politi- 
cal ranks, into which, for many years, the people of our coun- 
try continued to be divided. His success was the precursor 
of Mr. Jefferson's elevation to the Presidency : and during 
the whole period of that gentleman's administration, the weight 
of Mr. M'Keaivs opinions and conduct, was directed to the 
upholding of the principles which marked the policy of the ge- 
neral government. Such is the nature of the constitution of 
Pennsylvania, with respect to the powers of the governor, that 
party spirit will be roused, and the feelings of individuals, 
governed by perwnal interest, will be exhibited during every 
administration. Whatever, therefore, may have been the 
opinions of some, with regard to governor M'Kean's admi- 
nistration, while they were under the excitement of the per- 
sonal feelings of hope or disappointment, yet, during the 
whole constitutional period of nine years, the people were 
with him, and at this day, when his conduct is viewed through 
the medium of candour and truth, it is not denied, that that 
administration was marked by uncommon ability, and with 
great benefit to the state. His messages to the different le- 
gislative assemblies, are characterized by peculiar elegance 
and force of language, and are replete with the soundest 
maxims of political wisdom, and the clearest practical views 
of the policy of government. 

During the whole of his life, he was remarkable for the 
most unbending integrity of character. He possessed a qua- 
lification which has been justly noticed, as a distinguished 
trait in the character of Washington ; a determination to do 
what lie thought best for the interest of the state, without re- 
gard to the clamour of ignorance or of discontent. Independ- 
ent of the opinion which the narrow minded, but self-sufficient 
might please to adopt with regard to him, he was willing to 
be judged by the consequences of his actions, however remote 
those consequences might be. 



M'KINSTRY. 345 

In person, Mr. M'Kean was tall, erect, and well formed. 
His countenance, in a remarkable manner, bespoke tbe firm- 
ness and intelligence for which he was distinguished. His 
manners were impressive and dignified. He retired, in 1808, 
from the cares of a long life, faithfully, ably, and successful- 
ly, devoted to the service of his country ; and for the remain- 
der of his days, enjoyed, in the peaceful pursuits of science 
and literature, the consciousness of a well earned and honour- 
able fame. 

He died at his mansion, in Philadelphia, on the 24th of* 
June, 1817, in the eighty fourth year of his age. 

He had outlived all the enmities which an active and con- 
spicuous part in public affairs had, in the nature of things, 
created ; and his memory will be cherished as that of one of 
the most useful, among the able and virtuous fathers of a 
mighty republic. 

M'KINSTRY, John, was a brave officer in the revolution- 
ary war. At the first call of his country, he engaged in 
her service ; and from the memorable battle of Bunker's Hill, 
with which her sanguinary trials began, down to the surren- 
der of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, with which they gloriously 
ended, his zealous and efficient support was given to the cause 
of freedom. He had been repeatedly and severely wounded ; 
and some of the enemy's balls he has borne with him to the tomb 
in which his remains are deposited. As a partizan officer he 
was particularly distinguished ; and in many instances he 
showed, that to a daring spirit of gallantry, (which was per- 
haps, his most peculiar characteristic) he added the skill and 
conduct so seldom attained, and yet so indispensable to the 
formation of that character. 

One incident, in the life of this veteran, is too remarkable 
to be passed slightly over. At the battle of the Cedars, (thir- 
ty miles above Montreal, on the St. Lawrence) colonel M'Kins- 
try, then captain in colonel Patterson's regiment of continen- 
tal troops, was twice wounded and taken prisoner by the In- 
dians. The intrepidity of captain M'Kinstry, as a partizan 
officer, to which we have alluded above, had rendered him 
alike the object of their fears, and of their unforgiving resent- 
ment. The British officers were too much in dread of their 
savage allies, on account of their vast superiority of numbers, 
to risk an interposition of their authority to prevent a horrid 
sacrifice they saw 7 preparing : Already had the victim been 
bound to the tree, and surrounded by the faggots intended for 
his immolation; hope had fled, and in the agony of despair, he 
had uttered that mystic appeal which the brotherhood of Ma- 
sons never disregard : when as if Heaven had interposed for his 

44 



346 MONTGOMERY 

preservation, the warrior Brandt understood him and saved 
him. 

Brandt had been educated in Europe, and had there been 
initiated into the mysteries of free-masonry. The advantages 
of education, and his native strength of mind, gave him an 
ascendancy over the uncultured sons of the forest, that few 
other chiefs possessed. Situated as he was, the impending 
danger of a brother must have forcibly brought to mind his 
obligation to support him in the time of peril. His utmost 
endeavours were accordingly used, and they were happily 
successful in obtaining for him an immediate respite and 
eventful ransom. 

After the settlement of peace he retired to the cultivation 
of his farm in the vicinity of Hudson, sustaining an unblem- 
ished reputation, and enjoying the reward of his toils and suf- 
ferings, in the respect which was accorded, as well as to the 
rectitude of his private life, as to the patriotic services he 
had rendered his country. 

He died in the town of Livingston, New-York, in the year 
1822. 

MONTGOMERY, Richard, a major-general in the ar- 
my of the United States, in the revolutionary war, was born 
in the north of Ireland, in the year 1737. He possessed an 
excellent genius, which was matured by a fine education. En- 
tering the army of Great Britain, he successfully fought her 
battles with Wolfe, at Quebec, 1759, and on the very spot, 
where he was doomed to fall, when fighting against her, un- 
der the banners of freedom. After his return to England, he 
quitted his regiment in 1772, though in a fair way to prefer- 
ment. He had imbibed an attachment to America, viewing 
it as the rising seat of arts and freedom. After his arrival in 
this country, he purchased an estate in New-York, about a 
hundred miles from the city, and married a daughter of judge 
Livingston. He now considered himself as an American. 
When the struggle with Great Britain commenced, as he was 
known to have an ardent attachment to liberty, and had ex- 
pressed his readiness to draw his sword on the side of the col- 
onies, the command of the continental forces in the northern 
department was intrusted to him and general Schuyler, in the 
fall of 1775. By the indisposition of Schuyler, the chief com- 
mand devolved upon him in October. He reduced fort Chaiii- 
blee, and on the third of November, captured St. Johns. On 
the 12th he took Montreal. Leaving a few troops in Mon- 
treal, he despatched several detachments into the province, en- 
couraging the Canadians to forward on provisions, and pro- 
ceeded with expedition to Quebec. He formed a junction at 
l\)int-Aux-Trembles wkh colonel Arnold, who had beendes- 



MONTGOMERY. 347 

patched through the wilderness with a body of troops from the 
American army at Cambridge. The combined forces com- 
menced the siege of the capital on the 1st of December, prior 
to which general Montgomery sent in a summons to governor 
Carlton, to surrender, in order to avoid the horrors of a storm. 
The flag was fired upon and returned. Means, however, 
were devised by which the summons was conveyed to the in- 
habitants, but Carlton evinced astonishing inflexbility and 
firmness of mind on this trying occasion. The bombardment 
was soon after begun from five small mortars, but with very 
little effect. In a few days general Montgomery opened a 
six gun battery, about seven hundred yards distant from the 
walls, but his pieces were of too small calibre to make any 
impression. Convinced that the siege must soon be raised, 
or the place be stormed, the general decided on the latter, al- 
though he esteemed success but barely within the grasp of pos- 
sibility. He was induced to adopt this measure in order to 
meet the expectations of the whole colonies, who l»oked up to 
him for the speedy reduction of that province, which would 
be completed by the capture of the capital. The upper town 
was strongly fortified, the access to which from the lower town 
was very difficult on account of its almost perpendicular steep- 
ness. His confidence in the ardour of his troops, and a thirst 
for glory, induced him to make the assault, or perish in the at- 
tempt. The garrison of Quebec, consisted of about 1520 
men, viz. 800 militia, 450 seamen, and the remainder marines 
and regulars. The Americans consisted of only eight hun- 
dred. 

The siege having been for some ineffectually carried on, the 
last day of the year was determined for* the assault. The morn 
was ushered in with a fall of snow. The general divided his 
little force into four detachments. Colonel Livingston, at the 
head of the Canadians, was directed to make a feint against 
St. John's Gate ; and major Brown, another against Cape 
Diamond, in the upper town, while himself and Arnold should 
advance against the lower town, the first object of real attack. 
Montgomery advanced at the head of the New York troops, 
along the St. Lawrence, and having assisted with own hands 
in pulling up the pickets, which obstructed his approach to 
the second barrier, which he was determined to force, when 
the only gun that was fired from the battery of the astonished 
enemy, killed him and his two aids. The spot where general 
Montgomery fell, is a place a little above Frazer's wharf, un^- 
der Cape Diamond. The road there is extremely narrow, 
and will not admit of more than five people to walk abreast. 
A barrier had been made across the road, and from the win- 
dows of a low house, which formed part of it, were planted 



348 MONTGOMERY. 

two cannon. At his appearing upon a little rising ground, 
at the distance of about twenty or thirty yards, they were 
discharged. He and his two aids-de-camp fell at the same 
time, and thence rolled upon the ice in the river, which always 
forms, in the winter, upon its side. The next morning, a party 
being sent out to pick up the dead, lie was discovered among 
the slain. He was immediately taken to the prison where 
the Americans were confined, as they had denied his death ; 
upon which they acknowledged him, and burst into tears. 
The same night lie was buried by a few soldiers, without any 
kind of distinction whatever, at the corner of the powder house, 
near port Louis. The lieutenant governor of Quebec, Mr. 
Cramche, having served with him in the British army, was 
induced, by the persuasions of a lady, who was afterwards 
Mrs. Cramche, to order him a coffin, but made in the rough- 
est manner. The other officers were indiscriminately thrown 
with their clothes on, into the same grave with their men. As 
there was a great quantity of snow on the ground, and the 
earth was frozen very hard, it was impossible to dig the graves 
^ ery deep and of course the bodies were but slightly covered. 
On the thawing of the snow in the ensuing spring, many of 
them appeared above ground, and became offensive. They 
were, however, again buried, on general Carlton's being made 
acquainted with the circumstance. 

He was thirty-eight years of age. He was a man of great 
military talents, whose measures were taken with judgment, 
and executed with vigour. With undisciplined troops, who 
were jealous of him in the extreme, he yet inspired them with 
his own enthusiasm. He shared with them in all their hard- 
ships, and thus prevented their complaints. His industry 
could not be wearied, his vigilance imposed upon, nor his cou- 
rage intimidated. Above the pride of opinion, when a mea- 
sure was adopted by the majority, though contrary to his 
judgment, he gave it his full support. 

The following character of general Montgomery, w r e copy 
from Ramsay's history of the American revolution : 

" Few men have ever fallen in battle, so much regretted by 
both sides, as general Montgomery. His many amiable qua- 
lities had procured him an uncommon share of private affec- 
tion, and his great abilities an equal prpportion of public 
esteem. Being a sincere lover of liberty, he had engaged in 
the American cause from principle, and quitted the enjoy- 
ment of an easy fortune, and the highest domestic felicity, to 
take an active share in the fatigues and dangers of a war, in- 
stituted for the defence of the community of which he was an 
adopted member. His well known character was almost 
equally esteemed by the friends and foes of the side which he 



MONTGOMERY. 549 

had espoused. In America, he was celebrated as a martyr to 
the liberties of mankind ; in Great Britain, as a misguided 
good man, sacrificing to what he supposed to be the rights of 
his country. His name was mentioned in parliament with 
singular respect. Some of the most powerful speakers in that 
assembly, displayed their eloquence in sounding his praise, 
and lamenting his fate. Those in particular who had been 
his fellow soldiers in the previous war, expatiated on his many 
virtues. The minister himself acknowledged his worth, while 
he reprobated the cause for which he fell. He concluded an 
involuntary panegyric, by saying, " Curse on his virtues, they 
have undone his country." 

To express the high sense entertained by his country, of his 
services, congress directed a monument of white marble, with 
the following inscription on it, and which was placed in front 
of St. Paul's church, New York. 

THIS MONUMENT 

Was erected by order of 
Congress, 25th January, 1776, 

To transmit to posterity, 

A grateful remembrance of the 

Patriotism, conduct, entcrprize, and 

Perseverence, 

OF MAJOR GENERAL 

RICHARD MONTGOMERY; 

Who, after a series of success, 
Amidst the most discouraging difficulties, 
Fell in the attack 
On Quebec, 
31st December, 1775, 
Aged 38 years. 
The remains of general Montgomery, after resting forty 
two years at Quebec, by a resolve of the state of New York, 
were brought to the city of New York, on the 8th of July, 
1818, and deposited, with ample form, and grateful ceremo- 
nies, near the aforesaid monument in St. Paul's church. 

The removal of the remains was left by his excellency, go- 
vernor Clinton, to the family of the deceased, and colonel L. 
Livingston, (a nephew of general Montgomery,) proceeded to 
Quebec for the purpose. They were identified by the faithful 
hand of an honest and ingenious old soldier, who attended the 
funeral, and whose retentive memory, almost half a century 
after that mournful era, is yet spared to direct the hand of af- 
fection to that hallowed turf. Montgomery was the perso- 
nal and intimate friend of the lieutenant general of the Cana- 
das ; was recognized by him after the battle, and favoured 
with a coffin and a decent interment. He was buried within 
the walls of the city. 



350 MONTGOMERY. 

The coflin which contained the remains had not fallen to 
pieces. It appears to have heen of a rough structure, with a 
silver plate on its lid. There was no inscription visible on 
the plate. The anatomy was in a perfect state of preserva- 
tion. The skeleton of the head, with the exception of the un- 
der jaw, which was shot away, was perfect. Three teeth of the 
under jaw were together. 

The remains were taken up with great care by colonel Liv- 
ingston, and secured by binding a Tarpaulin close round the 
old coffin, and enclosing them in an iron bound chest. 

At Troy they took them from the box and tar cloth, and en- 
closed them, together with the original coffin, in a most 
splendid mahogany coffin, with the following inscription, ele- 
gantly engraved upon a silver plate, placed on its lid : 
THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 

IN IIONOUR OF 

GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY, 

Who fell gloriously fighting for the 

INDEPENDENCE AND LIBERTY OF THE UNITED 
STATES, 

Before the walls of Quebec, the 31st day of 

December, 1775, caused these remains 

Of this distinguished Hero, to 

Be conveyed from Quebec, 

And deposited on the eighth day of July, 1818. 

In St. Paul's Church, in the city of 

New York, near the monument 

Erected to his memory, 

BY THE UNITED STATES. 

This patriotic act of the state of New York, redounds 
much to its honour. 

The following just remarks were made in the Albany Re- 
gister on this occasion: 

''The hallowed remains of our beloved Montgomery are 
removed from a foreign land, where, for near forty three years, 
they have reposed "unknowing and unknown." From all 
the busy world who have listened to a relation of his patri- 
otism, his devotion and his valour; from the host of thou- 
sands, who saw with amazement the might of his Herculean 
arm, when raised in the cause of liberty, one, one only, could 
point to the sod, under whose favoured pall our hero slept. 
That country to which his manly and generous soul was so 
exclusively devoted, has received his decaying fragments of 
mortality to its bosom. In consigning these sacred manes to 
the protection of our common mother, a grateful people will 
cherish in their hearts a sweet remembrance of his virtues, 
with an embittered regret at his untimely fate. 



MORGAN. 351 

"We have now, in relation to one of the Fathers of our 
country, redeemed our character from the imputation of in- 
gratitude. All this was due to the bereaved, disconsolate, 
and venerable companion of our fallen chieftain's bosom, and 
infinitely more was due to the memory and remains of the de- 
voted martyr, on the sacred and imperishable altar of Free- 
dom. 

"The age-stricken widow of our hero yet lives to see the 
loved remains of her's and her country's Montgomery, re- 
moved from the plains of the crimsoned Abraham, and depo- 
sited in the bowels of a country, at the shrine of whose wel- 
fare he proffered all the warmth of his soul, all the energies 
of his mind, and all the mightiness of his strength." 

MORGAN, Daniel, brigadier general of the. Virginia 
line, in the revolutionary war, deservedly ranked among the 
best and most efficient officers of the United States, was born 
in Durham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from 
whence he emigrated to New Jersey, and from thence to Vir- 
ginia, in 175 5. Like many of the greatest men of every coun- 
try, his native condition was indigent, so much so as to ren- 
der it necessary for young Morgan to enter into service as a 
labourer for daily wages. 

Soon after his arrival in Virginia he obtained employment 
from farmer Roberts, near Charleston, in the county of Jeffer- 
son, (then Berkley.) Afterwards he was engaged to drive a 
wagon for John Ashley, overseer for Nathaniel Burrel, Esq. 
at his estate on the Shenandoah river, in Frederic county, 
near Berry's ferry. When he left Ashley, Morgan had, by 
his care and industry, amassed enough cash to purchase a 
wagon and team, which he did, and soon afterwards entered 
with it into the employment of Mr. John Ballantine, at his 
establishment on Occoquan creek. At the expiration of his 
year, Braddock's expedition was spoken of as an event cer- 
tainly to take plaee in the course of the ensuing summer. 
Morgan reserved himself, wagbn, &c. for this expedition; 
when he joined the army, but in what character is not known. 

He received, during his military service, a severe wound 
in the face, the scar of which was through life very visible. 
We do not understand in what affair this happened; but it 
was from a rifle or musket, aimed, as he said himself, by an 
Indian. The bullet entered the back of his neck, and passed 
through his left cheek, knocking out all his hind teeth on that 
side. 

In the course of the campaign he was unjustly punished, 
by being brought to the halbcrt, under a charge of contumely 
1o a British officer, where he received five hundred lashes. 
The officer being afterwards convinced of his cruel error, made 



352 MORGAN. 

every amend in his power to the maltreated Morgan; who, 
satisfied with the contrition evinced by the officer, magnani- 
mously forgave him. Nor did the recollection of this person- 
al outrage operate in the least to the prejudice of the British 
officers in the revolutionary war. Many of them, as is well 
known, fell into the hands of Morgan, and invariably receiv- 
ed from him compassionate and kind treatment. 

The general would often, among his intimate friends, re- 
cur to this circumstance, the narrative whereof lie generally 
concluded by saying, in a jocular way, that "King George 
was indebted to him one lash yet; for the drummer miscount- 
ed one, and he knew well when he did it; so that he only re- 
ceived four hundred and ninety-nine, when he promised him 
five hundred." 

In this period of life, from twenty to thirty years of age, 
Morgan was extremely dissipated, and spent much of his time 
in vulgar tippling and gambling houses. However, although 
habituated to the free use of ardent spirits, he was never con- 
sidered as a drunkard; and though enamored with cards and. 
dice, he was a cautious player, increasing rather than dimin- 
ishing his cash fund. This course of life subjected him to ma- 
ny affrays and furious pugilistic combats, in which he never 
failed to take a leading part. The theatre of these exploits 
was Berrystown, a small village in the county of Frederic, 
commonly called Battletown; named, as is generally suppos- 
ed, from the fierce combats fought on its soil under the ban- 
ners of Morgan. 

Whatever may have been the cause, it is certain that he 
spent much of his leisure at this place; that he fought tbere 
many severe combats; and that though often vanquished, he 
never was known to omit seizing the first opportunity which 
presented, after return of strength, of taking another bout 
with his conqueror; and this he repeated from time to time, 
until at length victory declared in his favor. 

Such was the innate invincibility of young Morgan, which 
never forsook him, when, by the strength of his unimproved 
genius, and the propitiousness of fortune, he mounted on an 
extended theatre of action; as replete with difficulty as to him 
with glory. When he returned from Braddock's expedition 
he re-assumed his former employment, and drove his own 
wagon. In a few years his previous savings, added to the 
little he earned in the campaign, enabled him to purchase a 
small tract of land from a Mr. Blackburn, in the county of 
Frederic, on which, during our war, he erected a handsome 
mansion house, with suitable accompanying improvements, 
and called it Saratoga, in commemoration of the signal victo- 
ry obtained by general Gates, to which he had himself prinei 



MORGAN. 353 

pally contributed. On this farm Morgan, having married 
shortly after his return from his military tour, resided when 
the revolutionary war broke out. 

The smattering of experience gained during Braddock's 
expedition, pointed him out to the leading men of Frederic, 
as qualified to command tlie first company of riflemen raised 
in that county in defence of our country. He speedily com- 
pleted his company, as all the finest youth of Frederic flocked 
to him; among whom was lieutenant, afterwards colonel 
Heth, and many others, who in the course of the war became 
approved officers. With this company Morgan hastened to 
the American army encamped before Boston, in 1774, and 
soon afterwards was detached by the commander in chief un- 
der Arnold, in his memorable expedition against Quebec. 

The bold and disastrous assault, planned and executed by 
the celebrated Montgomery against that city, gave opportu- 
nity for the display of heroism to individuals, and furnished 
cause of deep regret to the nation by the loss of the much be- 
loved Montgomery. No officer more distinguished himself 
than did captain Morgan. Arnold commanded the column to 
which Morgan was attached, who became disabled by a ball 
through his leg early in the action, and was carried off to a 
place of safety. 

Our troops having lost their leader, each corps pressed for- 
ward as the example of its officer invited. Morgan took the 
lead, and preceded by sergeant, afterwards lieutenant colo- 
nel, Potterfield, who unfortunately fell at the battle of Cam- 
den, when his life might have saved an army, mounted the 
first barrier; and rushing forward, passed the second barrier, 
lieutenant Heth and Serjeant Potterfield only before him. In 
this point of the assault, a group of noble spirits united in 
surmounting the obstacles opposed to our progress; among 
them was Greene and Thayer of Rhode Island, Hendricks of 
Pennsylvania, and Humphreys of Virginia ; the two last of 
whom were killed. 

Vain was this blaze of glory. Montgomery's fall stopped 
the further advance of the principal column of attack ; and 
the severity of the raging storm, the obstacles of nature and 
of art in our way, and the combined attack of the enemy's 
force, no longer divided by attention to the column of Mont- 
gomery, overpowered all resistance. Morgan (with most of 
the corps of Arnold) was taken; and experienced a different 
treatment from sir Guy Carleton,than was at that period cus- 
tomary for British officers to dispense to American prisoners. 
The kindness of Carleton, from motives of policy, applied 
more forcibly to the privates than to our officers, and produc- 
ed a durable impression. 

45 



054 MORGAN. 

While Morgan was in confinement at Quebec, the following 
anecdote, told by himself, manifests the high opinion enter- 
tained by the enemy of bis military talents from his conduct 
in this assault. He was visited occasionally by a British of- 
ficer, to him unknown; but from his uniform, he appeared to 
belong to the navy, and to be an officer of distinction. Dur- 
ing one of his visits, after conversing upon many topics, "he 
asked Morgan if he did not begin to be convinced that the re- 
sistance of America was visionary? and he endeavoured to 
impress him with the disastrous consequences which must in- 
fallibly ensue, if the idle attempt was persevered in, and very 
kindly exhorted him to renounce the ill-advised undertaking. 
He declared, with seeming sincerity and candor- his admira- 
tion of Morgan's spirit and enterprise, which he said was wor- 
thy of a better cause; and told him, if he would agree to 
withdraw from the American, and join the British standard, 
lie was authorised to promise him the commission, rank and 
emoluments, of a colonel in the royal army." Morgan re- 
jected the proposal with disdain; and concluded his reply, by 
observing, "That he hoped he would never again insult him 
in his distressed and unfortunate situation, by making him 
offers which plainly implied that he thought him a rascal." 
The officer withdrew, and the offer was never repeated. 

As soon as our prisoners were exchanged, Morgan hasten- 
ed to the army; and by the recommendations of general 
Washington, was appointed to the command of a regiment. 
In this station he acted under the commander in chief, in 1777, 
when a select rifle corps was formed out of the others in the 
army, and committed to his direction, seconded by lieutenant 
colonel Richard Butler, of Pennsylvania, and major Morris, 
of New Jersey, two officers of high talents, and specially 
qualified for the enterprising service to which they were as- 
signed. Morgan and his riflemen were singularly useful to 
Washington; but our loss of Ticomjeroga, and the impetuous 
advance of Burgoyne, proclaimed so loudly the gloomy con- 
dition of our affairs in the north, that the general, who thought 
only of the public good, deprived himself of Morgan, and 
sent him to Gates, where he was persuaded his services were 
most required. 

The splendid part he acted on that occasion, and how much 
his exertions contributed to the glorious triumph achieved af- 
terwards, are circumstances generally known. 

After the return of Morgan to the main army, he continued 
actively employed by the commander in chief, and never fail- 
ed to promote the good of the service by his sagacity, his vi- 
gilance* and his perseverance. In 1780, his health became 
much impaired, and he obtained leave of absence, when he 



MORGAN. 355 

returned to his family in Frederic, where he continued until 
after the fall of Charleston. 

When general Gates was called to the chief command in 
the south, he visited Morgan, and urged the colonel to accom- 
pany him. Morgan did not conceal his dissatisfaction at 
the treatment he had heretofore received, and proudly spoke 
of the important aid he had rendered to him, and the un- 
grateful return he had experienced. Being some few weeks 
afterwards promoted hy congress, to the rank of brigadier 
general by brevet, with a view of detaching him to the south, 
he repaired to the army of Gates, but did not reach Carolina 
in time to take a part in the battle of Camden. He joined 
Gates at Hillsborough, and was sent under Smallwood to Sa- 
lisbury, with all the force fitted for service. Gates, as soon 
as he had prepared the residue of his army, followed, and 
gave to Morgan, in his arrangements for the field, the com- 
mand of the light troops. 

Greene now arrived as the successor of Gates, which was 
followed hy that distribution of his force which led to the 
battle of the Cowpens; the influence of which was felt in 
every subsequent step of the war in the Carolinas. 

The following account of the battle of the Cowpens, we copy 
from Ramsay's history of the American revolution: 

"Lieutenant colonel Tirleton was detached by lord Corn- 
w all is in pursuit of Morgan, with eleven hundred men, and to 
"push him to the utmost." He had two field pieces, and a 
superiority of infantry in the proportion of five to four, and of 
calvary in the proportion of three to one. Besides this ine- 
quality of force, two thirds of the troops under general Mor- 
gan were militia. With these fair prospects of success, Tarle- 
ton engaged Morgan at the Cowpens, with the expectation of 
driving him out of South-Carolina. The latter drew up his 
men in two lines. The whole of the southern militia, with 
one hundred and ninety from North-Carolina, were put under 
the command of colonel Pickens. These formed the first line, 
and were advanced a few hundred yards before the second, with 
orders to form on the right of the second, when forced to re- 
tire. The second line consisted of the light infantry, and a 
corps of Virginia militia riflemen. Lieutenant Colonel Wash- 
ington, with his calvary and about forty-five militia mem 
mounted and equipped with swords, were; drawn up at some 
distance in the rear of the whole. The open wood in which 
they were formed, was neither secured in front, flank or rear. 
On the side of the British, the light legion infantry fusileers, 
though worn down with extreme fatigue, were ordered to 
form in line. Before this order was executed, the line, though 
far from being complete, was led to the attack by Tarleton 



356 MORGAN. 

himself. They advanced with a shout, and poured in ;ni inces- 
sant lire of musketry. Colonel Pickens directed the men un- 
der his command to restrain their fire, till the British were 
within forty or fifty yards. This order, though executed with 
great firmness, was not sufficient to repel their advancing foes. 
The militia fell back. The British advanced and engaged 
the second line, which after an obstinate conflict was compel- 
led to retreat to the cavalry. In this crisis lieutenant colonel 
Washinghton made a successful charge on captain Ogilvie, 
who with about forty dragoons, was cutting down the militia, 
and forced them to retreat in confusion. Lieutenant colonel 
Howard, almost at the same moment, rallied the continental 
troops and charged with fixed bayonets. The example was 
instantly followed by the militia. Nothing could exceed the 
astonishment and confusion of the British, occasioned by these 
unexpected charges. Their advance fell hack on their rear, 
and communicated a panic to the whole. Two hundred and 
fifty horse which had not been engaged, fled with precipitation. 
The pieces of artillery were seized by the Americans, and the 
greatest confusion took place among the infantry. While 
they were in this state of disorder, lieutenant colonel Howard 
called to them, to " lay down their arms," and promised them 
good quarter. Some hundreds accepted the offer and sur- 
rendered. The first battalion of the 71st, and two British 
light infantry companies, laid down their arms to the Amer- 
ican militia. A party which had been left some distance in 
the rear to guard the baggage, was the only body of infantry 
that escaped, The officer of that detachment on hearing of 
Tarleton's defeat, destroyed a great part of his baggage, and 
retreated to lord Cornwallis. Upwards of three hundred of 
the British were killed or wounded, and above five hundred 
prisoners were taken. Eight hundred muskets, two field pie- 
ces, thirty-five baggage waggons, and one hundred dragoon 
horses, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The Americans 
had only twelve men killed and sixty wounded. 

"General Morgan's good conduct on this memorable day, 
was honoured by congress with a gold medal. They also 
presented medals of silver to lieutenant colonels Washington 
and Howard, a sword to colonel Pickens, a brevet majority 
to Edward Giles, the general's aid-de-camp, and a captaincy 
to Baron Glassbeck. Lieutenant colonel Tarleton hitherto tri- 
umphant in a variety of skirmishes, on this occasion lost bis 
laurels, though he was supported by the 7th regiment, one 
battalion of the 71st, and two companies of light infantry; 
and his repulse did more essential injury to the British interest, 
than was equivalent to all the preceding advantages he had 
gained. It was the first link in a chain of causes which final- 



MORGAN. 357 

Jy drew down ruin, both in North and South-Carolina, on the 
royal interest." 

The victory of the Cowpens was to the south, what that 
of Bennington had been to the north. General Morgan, 
whose former services had placed him high in public estima- 
tion, was now deservedly ranked among the most illustrious 
defenders of his country. Starke fought an inferior, Morgan 
a superior foe. The former contended with a German corps; 
the latter with the elite of the southern army, composed of 
British troops. Starke was nobly seconded by colonel War- 
ner and his continentals; Morgan derived very great aid from 
Pickens and his militia, and was effectually supported by 
Howard and Washington. The weight of the battle fell on 
Howard; who sustained himself gloriously in trying circum- 
stances, and seized with decision the critical moment to com- 
plete with the bayonet the advantage gained by his fire. 

Greene was now appointed to the command of the south. 
After the battle of the Cowpens, a controversy ensued be- 
tween that general and Morgan, as to the route which the lat- 
ter should observe in his retreat. He insisted on passing the 
mountains; a salutary precaution, if applied to himself, but 
which was at the same time fatal to the operations of Greene. 
He informed the general that if that route was denied him, 
he would not be responsible for the consequences. " Neither 
shall you," replied the restorer of the south; " I will assume 
them all on myself." Morgan continued in his command un- 
til the fwo divisions of the army united at Guilford court- 
house, when, neither persuasion, entreaty, nor excitement, 
could induce him to remain in the service any longer. Ho 
retired and devoted himself exclusively to the improvement of 
his farm and of his fortune. 

He remained here, in the bosom of retirement, at Frederic, 
until he was summoned by president Washington to repress, 
by the force of the bayonet, the insurrection in the western 
counties of Pennsylvania. The executive of Virginia then 
detached Morgan to take the field, at the head of the militia 
of that state. 

Upon the retreat of the main body, Morgan remained in 
the bosom of the insurgents, until the ensuing spring, when 
he received orders from the president to withdraw. For the 
first time in his life, he now appears to have entertained ideas 
of political distinction. Baffled in his first attempt, he suc- 
ceeded in his second, and was elected a member of the house 
of representatives of the United States, for the district of 
Frederic. Having served out the constitutional term, he de- 
clined another election. His health being much impaired, 
and his constitution gradually sinking, he removed from Sa- 



S58 MORRIS. 

ratoga to the scene of his juvenile years, Berrysville, (Bat- 
tletown) and from thence to Winchester, where he closed his 
long, laborious and useful life. 

Brigadier Morgan was stout and active, six feet in height, 
strong, not too much encumbered with flesh, and was exact- 
ly fitted for the toils and pomp of war. His mind was dis- 
criminating and solid, but not comprehensive and combining. 
His manners plain and decorous, neither insinuating nor re- 
pulsive. His conversation grave, sententious and considerate, 
unadorned and uncaptivating. He reflected deeply, spoke lit- 
tle, and executed with keen perseverance whatever he under- 
took. He was indulgent in his military command, preferring 
always the affection of his troops, to that dread and awe 
which surround the rigid disciplinarian. 

No man ever lived who better loved this world, and no 
man more reluctantly quitted it : yet no man valued less his 
life than Morgan, when duty called him to meet his foe. 
Stopped neither by danger nor by difficulty, he rushed into 
the hottest of the battle, enamored with the glory which en- 
circles victory. 

General Morgan, like thousands of mortals, when nearly- 
worn out by the hand of time, resorted for mental comfort to 
the solace of religion. He manifested great penitence for the 
follies of his early life ; this was followed by joining the 
presbyterian church in full communion, with which he con- 
tinued to his last day. 

MORRIS, Robert, superintendant of the finances of the 
United States, during the revolutionary war, was born at Li- 
verpool, England, on the 20th day of January, 1734. He 
came to tins country at the age of thirteen, with his father, 
who was a respectable merchant. Immediately on his arri- 
val, he was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Gordon, 
of Maryland, who was well qualified to finish the mould of 
the youthful mind. His father died two years after his arri- 
val in this country, and Robert was placed in the counting- 
house of Charles Willing, Esq. at that time a distinguished 
merchant in Philadelphia. After he had served the usual 
term of years, he was established in his business by his 
patron. 

About the year 1769, he renounced the unnatural solitude 
of batchelorship, and intermarried with Mary, the daughter of 
colonel White, and sister of the present amiable and learned 
bishop of that name. She was elegant, accomplished and rich, 
and, in every respect, qualified to carry the fecility of connu- 
bial life to its highest perfection. 

The objects and employments of Mr. Morris's life, for some 
years after this change in his domestic character, were entire- 



MORRIS. 359 

iy of a commercial nature. On the appearance of a rupture 
with the British government, however, he was sent to con- 
gress, as a member for Pennsylvania, at the close of the year 
1775; and, during that session, was employed in some finan- 
cial arrangements of the greatest importance to the opera- 
tions of the army and navy. 

During the march of the British troops through the Jer- 
seys, in 1776, the removal of congress to Baltimore is well 
known. For reasons of a commercial nature, Mr. Morris 
was left at Philadelphia, to remain as long as circumstances 
would permit. At this crisis, a letter from the commander in 
chief was received by the government, announcing, that while 
the enemy were accurately informed of all his movements, he 
was compelled, from the want of hard money, to remain in 
complete ignorance of their arrangements, and requiring a 
certain sum as absolutely necessary to the safety of the army. 
Information of this demand was sent to Mr. Morris, in the 
hope that, through his credit, the money might be obtained ; 
the communication reached him at his office, in the way from 
which to his dwelling-house, immediately afterwards, he was 
met by a gentleman of the society of Friends, with whom he 
was in habits of business and acquaintance, and who accost- 
ed him with his customary phrase, •' Well, Robert, what 
news?" "The news is," said Mr. Morris, ''that I am in 
immediate want of a sum of hard money," mentioning the 
amount, " and that you are the man who must procure it for 
me. Your security is to be my note of hand and my honour." 
After a short hesitation, the gentleman replied, '■' Robert, 
thou shalt have it;" and, by the punctual performance of his 
promise, enabled congress to comply with the requisition of 
the general. 

The situation of general Greene, in South Carolina, was 
equally critical ; his distresses rendering it scarcely prac- 
ticable to keep his troops together, when a gentleman, Mr. 
Hall of that state, by stepping forward, and advancing the 
necessary sums, enabled him to stem the danger. On the re- 
turn of general Greene to Philadelphia, after the war had 
terminated, he repaired to the office of finance to settle his 
accounts, when the secret was divulged, that Mr. Hall had 
acted under the direction of Mr. Morris. The general was 
hurt at such an apparent want of confidence in him; but on 
re-considering the subject, he admitted the wisdom of the cau- 
tion which had been used; " I give you my opinion," said he, 
" that you never did a wiser thing: for, on other occasions, I 
was sufficiently distressed to have warranted my drawing on 
you, had I known that I might have done so, and I should 
have availed myself of the privilege." Mr. Morris rejoin- 



360 MORRIS. 

ed, that, even as matters had been conducted, the southern 
expedition had gone nearer than the operations in any other- 
quarter, to the causing of an arrest of his commercial busi- 
ness. 

By a resolution of congress, the office of financier was esta- 
blished in 1781, and Mr. Morris was unanimously elected 
as the superintendant. Previous to this election, he had form- 
ed a mercantile connection with I. and R. Hazlehurst, and 
his fear lest the duties of an official situation of such impor- 
tance should interfere with his engagements in business, pre- 
vented his acceptance of office, until congress had specifically 
resolved, that his fulfilment of his commercial obligations was 
not incompatible with the performance of the public services 
required of him. 

To trace him through all the acts of his financial adminis- 
tration, would be to make this biography a history of the last 
two years of the revolutionary war. When the exhausted credit 
of the government threatened the most alarming consequen- 
ces; when the soldiers were utterly destitute of the necessary 
supplies of food and clothing; when the military chest had 
been drained of its last dollar; and even the intrepid confi- 
dence of Washington was shaken; upon his own credit, and 
from his own private resources, did Mr. Morris furnish 
those pecuniary means, but for which the physical energies 
of the country, exerted to their utmost, would have been 
scarcely competent to secure that prompt and glorious issue 
which ensued. 

One of the first acts of his financial government was the 
proposition to congress of his plan for the establishment of 
the bank of North America, which was chartered forthwith, 
and opened on the 7th of January, 1782. At this time, "the 
states were half a million of dollars in debt on that year's 
taxes, which had been raised by anticipation, on that system 
of credit which Mr. Morris had created:" and, but for this 
establishment, his plans of finance must have been entirely 
frustrated. On his retirement from office, it was affirmed, by 
two of the Massachusetts delegates, "that it cost congress at 
the nie of eighteen millions per annum, hard dollars, to carry 
on the war, till he was chosen financier, and then it cost them 
but above five millions !" 

By the representations of a committee of congress, Mr. 
Morris was induced to abandon his intention of quitting of- 
fice, in 1783, and he accordingly continued to superintend the 
department of finance, to the 30th September, 1784, when, in 
a letterto the commissioners of the treasury board, he resign- 
ed his office, and immediately issued an advertisement, pledg- 
ing himself to the payment of all his outstanding debts, as 
they should arrive at maturity. 



MOULTRIE, S61 

^Fatigued with political cares, which, from the time of his 
election to a scat in the senate of the first congress, under the 
federal constitution, had so completely engrossed his mind, he 
was now anxious to retire to the relaxation of private life. 
That he was not avaricious after influence, may he sufficient- 
ly established from the fact of his refusal to accept the situa- 
tion of secretary of the treasury, which general Washington 
wished him to fill. 

That his long continuance in the public service, and his 
unremitted attention to the business of his country, had caus- 
ed some confusion in his private affairs, he assigned as a rea- 
son for declining to comply with the solicitations of the city 
of Philadelphia, which had sent a delegation to request he 
would become its representative in congress. It is true, in- 
deed, that be was subsequently induced to resume his situation, 
as a delegate from Pennsylvania, and that he continued to fill 
this distinguished character, for several years after his re- 
tirement from the financial department: but it is equally true, 
that this compliance with the public wish was rather the effect 
of a powerful sense of political duty, than of inclination. His 
long inattention to his private affairs was productive of great 
embarrassments of mind and circumstances, the results of 
which cast a shade over those declining years which unem- 
barrassed repose and honorable affluence ought to have sooth- 
ed and cherished. 

After a life of inestimable utility, Mr. Morris died in Phi- 
ladelphia, on the 8th of May, 1806, in the 73d year of his age* 
That his arrangements for the raising of pecuniary supplies, 
and the support of the credit of his country, in her greatest 
need, essentially conduced to the glorious termination of the 
contest for liberty, is established in the evidence of the illus- 
trious Washington himself: and it may as truly be said of 
him, as it was of the Roman Curtius, that he sacrificed him- 
self for the safety of the commonwealth. 

MOULTRIE, William, a major-general in the revolution- 
ary war, was devoted to the service of his country at an early 
period of his life. An Englishman by birth, he had, like many 
others of his countrymen, fled from the tyranny and oppres- 
sion of the old world, and sought freedom and security in the 
new. At the commencement of the opposition to the mea- 
sures of the British ministry, he stood high in the estimation 
of his fellow citizens of Carolina; and his name is found, in 
every convention which assembled at Charleston, for the pur 
pose of devising ways and means of resisting those encroach- 
ments on the rights of the citizen which were first attempted 
at Boston, and which, with the noiseless tread of the savage, 
assailed the person and habitation of every American with 

46 



S62 MOULTRIE. 

the toils of slavery, and the dagger of violation. It was from 
the spirited exertions of the Rutledges, Pinckneys, Middletoii 
and Moultrie, that Carolina was found among the first of her 
sister states in exposing herself to the terrors of the raging 
and warring elements of that time. On the 11th of January, 
1775, the first provincial congress, as it was then called, of 
South- Carolina* assembled at Charleston. It was a bright and 
splendid assemblage of talents, patriotism and heroism, and 
Moultrie was a distinguished member of it. The unanimity 
which marked their proceedings, and the fixed and resolute 
assertion of their rights and privileges, and the manly and 
heroic devotion which they manifested in subscribing to the 
association recommended by the congress at Philadelphia, 
sufficiently testify that they were worthy to be the fathers of 
Carolinian liberty. 

Every thing wore the appearance of war, but hostilities 
had not yet even entered into the minds of our forefathers. In 
supplication and the assertion of their rights, supported by 
arguments, completely unanswerable, it was hoped and believ- 
ed, that British violence would be convinced, and yield that 
prerogative right of oppression which she had claimed. But 
the battle of Lexington was the tocsin of alarm; and the groans 
of the dying freeman demanded vengeance for himself and se- 
curity for his offspring, from his country: in consequence of 
which, the provincial congress of South Carolina again as- 
sembled at Charleston, on the first of June, 1775. and imme- 
diately determined on raising two regiments of foot and one 
of rangers, for the defence of the province; and of the second 
regiment Moultrie was nominated the colonel. Measures 
were taken to provide powder, and the other necessary imple- 
ments of war. Difficult was the undertaking, but glorious 
the result. Embalmed in the affections of their countrymen 
arc the memories of the gallant and noble few, who first trod 
the ramparts of liberty. They have departed from among us, 
and it is now indeed but seldom that our eyes are blessed with 
the sight, and our hearts improved by the recognition of the 
grey hairs of the revolution. 

The regiments which were ordered to be raised were soon 
completed, and every measure which prudence could dictate to 
prevent disaffection from attempting any thing within, and to 
repel invasion from without, was accomplished. In the exe- 
cution of these measures of prudence, colonel Moultrie was 
always found the prompt and efficient officer. About the last 
of this year, 1775, that spirit of disaffection which had hith- 
erto lain dormant, began to manifest itself in the upper part 
of the country. In the district of Ninety-Six, the insurgents 
collected in large bodies, and. after a warm and obstinate ae- 



MOULTRIE. 363 

aon, besieged colonel Williamson in liis fortified camp. To 
quell this insurrection, and repel any invasion which might be 
attempted, was indeed a difficult task, and one from which 
most men would shrink in despair. But our forefathers dared 
attempt it, and succeeded. The tories were compelled to 
abandon the siege of Williamson's camp, and to remain for 
a time quiet spectators of the passing events. For the better 
securing the harbours of Charleston, Moultrie erected a fas- 
cine battery on Sullivan's Island, which afterwards bore his 
name. The English now began seriously to think of invad- 
ing South Carolina, and fitted out accordingly a large naval 
armament from New- York, the command of which was given 
to commodore Parker. It was now that war seemed ai)out 
to pounce upon South Carolina as his prey. The husbandman 
was seen deserting his farm, and hastening to Charleston to 
protect his country. "The noisy drum and car piercing fife," 
were heard on every breeze; and the lengthening columns, 
which proceeded to her aid from her sister states, gave " aw- 
ful note of preparation and suspense." Lee and Armstrong, 
two gallant leaders of the American forces, marshaled the ar- 
mies, and gave directions to the patriotic ardour of the Caro- 
linians. But where is Moultrie? In the battery, on Sulli- 
van's Island, he may be seen toiling, and directing the ener- 
gies of his regiment to the completion of their works. Hasti- 
ly erected, and apparently incapable of resistance, the gallant 
commander was advised to abandon it, and told that the Bri- 
tish ships would knock it down in half an hour; but his truly 
Spartan reply, " We will lay behind the ruins, and prevent 
their men from landing," showed the spirit of Leonidas. and 
that he was worthy to command the Thermopylae of his 
country. 

On the 28th of June, 1776, the British fleet commenced an 
attack on fort Moultrie. The great and unequal conflict was 
met by the gallant Moultrie, with a firm and unyielding front. 
The raw and undisciplined troops of Carolina sustained from 
eight ships of the British navy an incessant cannonade for 
ten hours. But during that time none were seen to waver. 
Animated by the presence of their gallant commander, all 
were heroes; and their guns, pointed with deliberation, pour- 
ed a slow but certain havoc over the decks of the enemy's 
vessels. One spirit, victory or death, pervaded every rank ; 
even the wounded and the dying cheered and encouraged their 
comrades to perseverance. It was, indeed, a scene to fill 
every bosom. The wharves of Charleston were lined with 
crowds of anxious citizens, listening, in death-like silence, to 
every gun, and watching, in an agony of hope and fear to 
excry motiou of Moultrie's flag. There, too, were assembled 



364 MOULTRIE. 

the wives and children of the defenders of the fort. Every 
thing depended on the issue of the contest. Domestic happi- 
ness and liberty held their mantles high over their heads, and 
under such a covering, victory and triumph were certain. 

For the gallant defence at fort Moultrie, the commander 
and his little band were entitled to, and received the eviden- 
ces of the warmest gratitude of their country. To the female 
patriotism of Mrs. Elliott, they were indebted for the present 
of a pair of colours, made sacred by the language of the fair 
donor; that she "had no doubt but that they would stand hy 
tin in, as long as they could wave in the air of liberty." The 
belief was not vain; those colours were wet with the expiring 
blood of Bush, Hume, Gray, and the gallant Jasper; and, 
until Charleston fell, they waved in the van of the Carolina 
army. 

After the signal repulse of the enemy from Sullivan's 
island, the country was left in a state of tranquility: and the 
declaration of independence was received at a time when ex- 
ultation had not yet subsided for the recent victory, and when 
every heart was throbbing with the most delightful anticipa- 
tions for the future. South Carolina sung the song of triumph 
and victory; and scarcely had the loud and swelling notes ex- 
pired upon the ear, when she chaunted the hymn of liberty and 
independence. 

Shortly after this time, Moultrie rose to the rank of briga- 
dier genera], and was put upon the continental establishment. 
The state continued to enjoy a repose from the attacks of the 
external enemies, until the year 1779. 

In the mean time, the state was rent asunder by the in- 
trigues of the disaffected; and the infatuated tories pulled down 
the angry vengeance and just chastisement of their country, 
upon their heads. The invasion of Georgia, by the British, 
and the defeat of general Howe at Savannah, was the com- 
mencement of that deluge of calamities which afterwards over- 
whelmed South Carolina. The experience of general Lin- 
coln, when opposed by the rash and head-strong conduct of 
the militia, could only retard for a time, not entirely dissi- 
pate, the approaching storm. In the defence of Beaufort, 
general Moultrie displayed his usual sagacity and prudence; 
he repulsed the enemy at all points, and kept them in check 
with a handful of militia, until it was judged proper for him 
to abandon Beaufort to its fate, and unite himself with the 
main army. Encamped at Parisburg, Lincoln and Moultrie, 
with an armv greatly inferior in numbers, composing mostly 
of militia and raw recruits, opposed a steady and never- vary- 
ing front to the veteran ranks of England. It was even deter- 
mined, with the assistance of general Ash, to push the war 



MOULTRIE. 365 

into Georgia, and by one bold movement drive genera! Pro- 
vost to the necessity of surrendering. But the defeat of ge- 
neral Ash's army at Blair creek, completely frustrated the 
plans of the American officers, and drove them to the necessity 
of abandoning offensive for defensive war. 

The enemy now endeavoured to approach to Charleston by 
land, from Georgia. To their advance, the veteran genius of 
Moultrie was opposed. Like a wounded lion, compelled to 
tread back his steps, Ms retreat was daring ; and facing about, 
he occasionally snatched his prey from his pursuers, and made 
their recoiling ranks tremble for their safety. Lincoln, who 
had previously marched with the flower of the army for Augus- 
ta, is seen stretching forward with a rapid march to gain the 
rear of the advancing enemy, or to unite himself with Moul- 
trie. It was a time of difficulty ; every nerve was strained 
for the contest; the militia could scarcely be induced to turn out, 
and when in service, they deserted the ranks to return to their 
homes, at pleasure. Danger was presenting itself at every 
door, and individual interest was more regarded than that of 
the country. But the exertions of Moultrie and governor 
Rutledge, gathered from all parts, the citizen yeomanry ; and 
general Provost, instead of finding Charleston an easy prey, 
found it guarded and protected, and the hero of Sullivan's 
island presiding over all as the genius of safety. A siege was 
not attempted, and the enemy precipitately withdrew from be- 
fore the town. Lincoln now began to draw near, and the 
hitherto pursuing enemy became in their turn the pursued. 

About this time Moultrie received the commission of a ma 
jor general in the army of the United States. The battle of 
Stono followed immediately after, winch although uncertain in 
die result, was sufficiently evincive of the bravery of the Ame- 
rican troops, and of the prudence and gallantry of Moultrie. 
The enemy, although left in possession of the field, did not 
think proper to retain the post, but soon after abandoned it, 
and retired to Savannah. The pursuit was conducted to 
Sheldon by Moultrie. He there gave up the command to ge- 
neral Lincoln, and returned to Charleston. Fortunately for 
him his laurels were not blighted by the frost of repulse which 
general Lincoln sustained in the siege of Savannah. 

In the year 1780, a third invasion of South Carolina was 
projected, and carried into execution under the command of 
sir Henry Clinton. The force was overwhelming and irresis- 
table. In vain did Lincoln and Moultrie endeavour to check 
their approach ; in vain did they endeavour to retard the works 
of the besiegers ; Charleston surrendered to a numerous and 
well appointed army, and her harbour, filled with the fleet of 
England, after a gallant resistance, was obliged to surrender. 



366 MUHLENBERG. 

On the l£th of May, 1780, Carolina witnessed the mournful 
spectacle of an army of freemen, piling their arms, and sur- 
rendering themselves prisoners of war. Here ended the ca- 
reer of major general Moultrie as a military man. He re- 
mained a prisoner until nearly the close of the American war, 
when he was exchanged at Philadelphia, and returned to 
South Carolina, where he was received with proud and en- 
thusiastic joy. His slaves, although having every opportunity, 
during the war, to abandon his service, not one of them done 
so. On hearing of his return, they crouded around their ve- 
nerable master to kiss his hand, and to show their attachment 
to his person and fortune, by the tears of rapturous joy which 
they shed, at being once more permitted to behold him. He 
had the pleasure of witnessing the evacuation of Charleston, 
shortly after his arrival at home, and of seeing peace return 
" with healing in her wings, and majesty in her beams," to ir- 
radiate the prospects of America. 

The subsequent life of Moultrie was one of tranquility, and 
presents nothing very striking or interesting. He was once 
governor of South Carolina. He died at Charleston, Sep- 
tember 27, 1805, in the seventy sixth year of his age. 

The character of general Moultrie, as an officer, a man, and 
a citizen, was unexceptionable. The glory of his services 
was surpassed by his disinterestedness and integrity. 

MUHLENBERG, Peter, a brave and distinguished offi- 
cer during the revolutionary war, was a native of Pennsylva- 
nia. In early life he yielded to the wishes of his vene- 
rable father, the patriarch of the German Lutheran church in 
Pennsylvania, by becoming a minister of the Episcopal 
church, and participating in the spirit of the times, exchang- 
ed his clerical profession for that of a soldier. Having in 
his pulpit inculcated the principles of liberty, and the cause 
of his country, he found no difficulty in enlisting a regiment 
of soldiers, and he was appointed their commander. He en- 
tered the pulpit with his sword and cockade, preached his 
farewell sermon, and the next day marched at the head of his 
regiment to join the army. 

In the year 1776, he became a member of the convention, 
and afterwards a colonel of a regiment of that staie. In the 
year 1777, he was appointed a brigadier general in the revo- 
lutionary army, in which capacity he acted until the termina- 
tion of the war which gave liberty and independence to his 
country, at which time he was promoted to the rank of major 
general. General Muhlenberg was a particular favorite of 
the commander in chief, and he was one of those brave men, 
in whose coolness, decision of character; and undaunted reso- 
lution, he could ever rely. It has been asserted with some 



NELSON. 567 

degree of confidence, that it was general Muhlenberg, who 
commanded the American storming party at Yorktown, the 
honour of which station has been attributed, by the different 
histories of the American revolution, to another person. It 
is, however, a well known fact, that he acted a distinguished 
and brave part at the siege of Yorktown. 

After the peace, general Muhlenberg was chosen by his fel- 
low citizens of Pennsylvania, to fill in succession the various 
stations of vice president of the supreme executive council of 
Pennsylvania, member of the house of representatives, and 
senator of the United States; and afterwards appointed by 
the president of the United States, supervisor of the excise in 
Pennsylvania, and finally, collector of the port of Philadel- 
phia, which office he held at the time of his death. In all the 
above military and political stations, general Muhlenberg acted 
faithfully to his country and honourably to himself. He was 
brave in the field, and firm in the cabinet. In private life he 
was strictly just ; in his domestic and social attachments, he 
was affectionate and sincere; and in his intercourse with his 
fellow citizens, always amiable and unassuming. 

He died on the 1st day of October, 1807, in the sixty-second 
year of his age, at his seat near Schuylkill, Montgomery 
county Pennsylvania. 

NELSON, Thomas, governor of Virginia, was a distin- 
guished patriot in the revolution, and uniformly ardent in his 
attachment to liberty. He was among the first of that glo- 
rious band of patriots, whose exertions dashed and defeated 
the machinations of British tyranny ; and gave to America, 
freedom and independent empire. At a most important crisis, 
during our struggle for American liberty, when Virginia ap- 
peared to be designated as the theatre of action for the con- 
tending armies, he was selected by the unanimous suffrage of 
the legislature to command the virtuous yeomanry of his coun- 
try ; in which honourable employment he remained to the end 
of the war. As a soldier, he was indefatigably active, and 
cooly intrepid. Resolute and undetected in misfortunes, he 
towered above distress ; and struggled with the manifold dif- 
ficulties, to which his situation exposed him, with constancy 
and courage. 

In the year 1781, when the force of the southern British 
army was directed to the immediate subjugation of that state, 
he was called to the helm of government, and took the field. 
at the head of his countrymen. The commander in chief, and 
the officers at the siege at Yorktown, witnessed his merit and 
attachment to civil and religious liberty. He was an intre 
grid soldier and an able statesman. He. died in February, 
1789. 



368 OGDEN— OLNEV. 

OGDEN, Matthias, a brigadier general in the army of 
the United States, took an early and a decided part in the re- 
volutionary war with Great Britain. He joined the army at 
Cambridge, and such was his zeal and resolution, that he ac- 
companied Arnold in penetrating through the wilderness to 
Canada. He was engaged in the attack upon Quebec, and 
was carried wounded from the place of engagement. On his 
return from this expedition he was appointed to the command 
of a regiment, in which station he continued until the conclu- 
sion of the war. When peace took place he was honoured 
with a commission of brigadier general. He died at Eliza- 
beth town, New Jersey, March 31, 1791. He was distin- 
guished for his liberality and philanthrophy. 

OLNEY, Jeremiah, commenced his military career, at 
the earliest period of the defensive revolutionary war, and be- 
came the companion in arms of the immortal Washington, 
under whose auspicious command (frequently as the chief offi- 
cer of the Rhode Island forces) he nobly persevered, through 
•all the trying, changing scenes of the revolution, till a glo- 
rious independence emancipated his beloved country, and in 
"peace, liberty, and safety," ranked her among the nations 
of the earth. His heroism at Red Bank, SpringhVld, Mon- 
mouth, Yorktown, and other places where "men's souls" were 
tried, will be honourably registered by the pen of the faithful 
historian in the annals of his country, and will embalm his 
memory to all posterity. 

The life of this amiable and highly revered gentleman, was 
distinguished by the most undeviating honour and integrity, 
from which no interest could swerve him, no danger appal 
him. To his innate love and ardent practice of truth and jus- 
tice, were united a disposition the most social and endearing, 
a philantrophy the most exalted, and a hospitality the most 
unostentatious and interesting to the finer feelings of the heart. 
To every branch of his numerous and respectable family, to 
all his associates and neighbours, he was ever attentive and 
affectionate, and to those whom he knew were oppressed with 
sickness, sorrow and misfortune, he was a liberal, actne com- 
forter; a friend indeed! Even his servants he humanely con- 
sidered his "humble friends," and treated them accordingly. 
Indeed, all who were connected or associated with him, by af- 
finity, friendship, or patronage, will long remember him with 
the most lively gratitude am' regard, mingled with sentiments 
of the tendercst regret. His many virtues were numerous and 
exemplary, as he wisely regulated his conduct by his revered 
monitor, conscience; the incorruptible vicegerent of the most 
high God. As a citizen, he was public spirited; as a patriot 
soldier, ardent, judicious and intrepid. 



OTIS, 369 

He was for many years collector of the customs of the port 
and district of Providence, Rhode Island, and president of 
the society of Cincinnati of that state. He died the tenth of 
November, 1812, in the sixty third year of his age. 

OTIS, James, a distinguished patriot and statesman, was 
the son of the honorable James Otis, of Barnstable. Massa- 
chusetts, and was graduated at Harvard college, in 1743. Af- 
ter pursuing the study of the law under Mr. Gridley, the first 
lawyer and civilian of his time, at the age of twenty one he 
began the practice at Plymouth. In 1761, he distinguished 
himself by pleading against the writs of assistance, which the 
officers of the customs had applied for to the judges of the 
supreme court. His antagonist was Mr. Gridley. He was in 
this or the following year, chosen a member of the legislature 
of Massachusetts, in which body the powers of his eloquence, 
the keenness of his wit, the force of his aiguments, and the 
resources of his intellect gave him a most commanding in- 
fluence. When the arbitrary claims of Great Britain were 
advanced, he warmly engaged in defence of the colonies, and 
was the first champion of American freedom who had the 
courage to affix his name to a production that stood forth 
against the pretensions of the parent state. He was a mem- 
ber of the congress which was held at New York, in 1765, in 
which year his Rights of the Colonies Vindicated, a pamphlet, 
occasioned by the stamp act, and which was considered as a 
masterpiece, both of good writing and of argument, was pub- 
lished in London. For the boldness of his opinions he was 
threatened with arrest : yet he continued to support the rights 
of his fellow citizens. He resigned the office of judge advo- 
cate in 1767. and renounced all employment under an admi- 
nistration which had encroached upon the liberties of his 
country. His warm passions sometimes betrayed him into 
unguarded epithets, that gave his enemies an advantage, 
without benefit to the cause which lay nearest his heart. — 
Being vilified in the public papers, he in return published 
some severe strictures on the conduct of the commissioners of 
the customs, and others of the ministerial party. A short 
time afterwards, on the evening of the 5th of September 1769, 
he met Mr. John Robinson, one of the commissioners, in a 
public room, and an affray followed, in which he was as- 
saulted by a number of ruffians, who left him and a young 
gentleman, who interposed in his defence, covered with 
wounds. The wounds were not mortal, but his usefulness 
was destroyed, for his reason was shaken from its throne, 
and the great man in ruins lived several years the grief of 
his friends. In an interval of reason he forgave tlie men who 
had done him an irreparable injury, and relinquished the sum 

47 



370 



OTIS. 



of five thousand pounds sterling, which Mr. Robinson had 
been, by a civil process, adjudged to pay, on his signing a 
humble acknowledgment. He lived to see. but not "fully to 
enjoy, the independence of America, an event towards which 
his efforts had greatly contributed. At length on the twenty 
third day of May, 1783, as he was leaning on his cane at the 
door of Mr. Osgood's house in Andover, he was struck by a 
flash of lightning ; his soul was instantly liberated from its 
shattered tenement, and sent into eternity. 

"It is a singular coincidence, that he often expressed a wish 
for such a fate. He told his sister, Mrs. Warren, after hi» 
reason was impaired, "My dear sister, I hope when God Al- 
mighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time 
into eternity, that it will be by a flash of lightning," and this 
idea he often repeated. 

"There is a degree of consolation blended with awe in the 
manner of his death, and a soothing Htr.ess in the sublime ac- 
cident which occasioned it. The end of his life was ennobled, 
when the ruins of a great mind, instead of being undermined 
by loathsome and obscure disease, were demolished at once by 
a bright bolt from Heaven. 

"His body was taken to Boston, and his funeral was at- 
tended with every mark of respect, and exhibited one of the 
most numerous processions ever seen in the town. 

"Mr. Otis was one of the master spirits who began and con- 
ducted an opposition, which at first, was only designed to 
counteract and defeat an arbitrary administration, but which 
ended in a revolution, emancipated a continent, and establish- 
ed by the example of its effects, a lasting influence on all the 
governments of the civilized world. 

"He espoused the cause of his country, not merely because 
it was popular, but because he said that its prosperity, free- 
dom and honor, would be all diminished, if the usurpation of 
the British parliament was successful. His enemies constant- 
ly represented him as a demagogue, yet no man was less so. 
His character was too liberal, proud and honest, to play that 
part. He led public opinion by the energy which conscious 
strength, elevated views and quick feelings inspire, and 
was followed with that deference and reliance which great 
talents instinctively command. These were the qualifications 
that made him, for many years, the oracle and guide of the 
patriotic party. 

"As in every case of public or private oppression, he was 
willing to volunteer in the cause of the suffering, and in ma- 
ny instances where he thought the occasion would justify it, 
he employed his talents gratuitously, his enemies were forced 
to acknowledge his liberality. 



ORR— PAINE. 37i 

"He was a man of powerful genius and anient temper, with 
*% it and humor that never failed: as an orator, he was bold, 
argumentative, impetuous and commanding, with an eloquence 
that made his own excitement irresistibly contagious ; and as 
a lawyer his knowledge and ability placed him at the head 
of his profession: and as a scholar, he was rich in acquisition 
and governed by a classic taste; as a statesman and civilian, 
he was sound and just in his views; as a patriot, he resisted 
all allurements that might weaken the cause of that country, 
to which he devoted his life, and for which he sacrificed it. — 
The future historian of the United States, in considering the 
foundation of American independence, will find that one of 
the corner stones must be inscribed with the name of James 
Otis. 

ORR, Johx, was a worthy and much respected officer of 
the revolution. He was in the battle of Bennington, under 
general John Stark, and received a wound in the thigh in the 
early part of the engagement. The ball entered just above 
the knee joint, and lodged in the bone, which was much frac- 
tured, and large pieces were afterwards extracted. In con- 
sequence of tins wound the knee joint became stiff, and he was 
a cripple the remainder of his life. As a man, a magistrate 
and a christian, but few have been more esteemed, or can be 
more deeply lamented. He possessed a strong discriminating 
mind, a sound judgment, and retentive memory, which emi- 
nently fitted him to discharge the duties of the several sta- 
tions which he filled. For many years he represented the 
town of his residence in the general court, and for seven years 
in succession, was elected a senator from the seventh senato- 
rial district. After the new division of the state into districts 
for the choice of senators, December 29, 1803, he was elected 
senator for district No 3, the two succeeding years. He was 
afterwards, for a number of years in succession, the candi- 
date for counsellor of the county of Hillsborough. He was 
among the oldest magistrates in the county, and had been in 
commission, as justice of the peace and of the quorum, more 
than twenty years. He died in Bedford, New-Hampshire, 
in the year 1823, aged 75 years. 

PAINE, Thomas, author of Common Sense, The Crisis, 
Rights of Man, &c. &c. was born in England, 1737. His 
education and early life differed in nothing from that of any 
other intelligent enterprising young mechanic. As soon as he 
had acquired a knowledge of his trade, he left his native 
town, Thetford, in Nottinghamshire, and went to London, 
with no higher (apparent) ambition, than that of establishing 
himself in business as a master stay maker. He next went to 
sea in a British privateer ; after that he was an exciseman 



372 PAULDliNG. 

ami a grocer. He emigrated to this country by the advice of 
Doctor Franklin, in the year 1775, and here his literary and 
political career commenced. The popularity of his writings, 
and his eloquent speeches during the revolutionary war in 
this country, rendered him, in many instances, a useful auxi- 
liary to the army. The great and most striking feature in the 
character of Thomas Paine, is that intellectual coin-ago, that 
bold decision, and unwavering confidence in his own powers, 
which enable the possessor coolly to mark out with the eye 
his destined course, and then to advance with linn and steady 
step, careless of consequence, and fearless of public opinion. 
The circumstances of the world so unaccountably fickle, so 
ready to change order into anarchy, and then anarchy into 
despotism, exceedingly favored the system of Paine, particu- 
larly in Europe. As to the impious folly which Paine pub- 
lished on the subject of religion, let it silently pass into the 
grave with its wofully deluded author. He died at New 
York, in the year 1809. aged 72 years. 

PAULDIJNG. Johx, a distinguished soldier of the revolu- 
tionary war, and one of the three incorruptible patriots who 
arrested Major Andre. When Andre found that he was dis- 
covered, he offered his gold watch, and any amount in cash 
or dry goods, to Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert, if they 
would permit him to escape. All his offers were rejected with 
disdain, and they declared that ten thousand guineas, or any 
other sum, would he no temptation. It was to their virtue, no 
less glorious to America than Arnold's apostacy was dis- 
graceful, that his treason was discovered. While Arnold is 
handed down with execration to future times, posterity will 
repeat with reverence the names of Paulding, Williams, and 
Van Wert. 

The following resolution was adopted by Congress, on the 
third of November, 1780, as a reward for their virtue and 
fidelity. 

*< Whereas Congress have received information that John 
Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wert, three young- 
volunteer militia-men of the state of New- York, did, on the 
twenty' third day of September last, intercept major John 
Andre, adjutant-general of the British army, on his return 
from the American lines, in the character of a spy : and not- 
withstanding the large bribes offered them for his release, no- 
bly disdaining to sacrifice their country for the sake of gold, 
secured and conveyed him to the commanding officer of the 
district, whereby the dangerous and traitorous conspiracy of 
Benedict Arnold was brought to light, the insiduous designs 
of the enemy baffled, and the United States rescued from im- 
pending danger: 



PETERS. 375 

" Resolved, That Congress have a high sense of the virtu- 
ous and patriotic conduct, of the said John Paulding, David 
Williams, and Isaac Van Wert : In testimony whereof, 

" Ordered, That eacli of them receive annually, out of the 
public treasury, two hundred dollars in specie, or an equiva- 
lent in the current money of these states, during life ; and 
that the board of war procure for each of them a silver me- 
dal, on one side of which shall be a shield with this inscrip- 
tion, " Fidelity," and on the other, the following motto, 
•' Vincit amor patriae," and forward them to the commander 
in chief, who is requested to present the same, with a copy of 
this resolution, and the thanks of Congress for their fidelity, 
and the eminent service they have rendered their country." 

Major Paulding died at Staasburg, New York, on the 
thirtieth of December 1819, aged eighty seven years. 

PETERS. Nathan, entered the service of his country at 
the commencement of the revolutionary war. and early in 
the year 1775, he joined the Connecticut squad, and marched 
with them to Roxbury, the morning after the news of the alarm 
at Boston reached Norwich. lie was soon after promoted 
to the rank of lieutenant, in which station he acquitted him- 
self with great promptness and credit* and for his officer-like 
conduct and urbanity of manners, he soon gained the fullest 
confidence and esteem of general Washington, and all those 
of his brother officers with whom he had the pleasure of an ac- 
quaintance. This intimacy and friendship of general Wash- 
ington, which commenced so early in our struggle for inde- 
pendence, continued unabated till the day of the departure of 
the immortal father of our country. Major Peters soon pas- 
sed through the different grades from lieutenant to major, and 
in the mean time he was engaged in several of the most impor- 
tant battles that led to our final emancipation from the Bri- 
tish yoke. He was engaged at the battle at Long- Island, at 
York-Island, at Frog's Point, at Princeton, at Trenton, and 
at Newport. In most of all these engagements, he was con- 
sidered a most efficient officer ; and in the latter, as appears 
by his testimonials, he was from the nature of his duty expo- 
sed to much imminent danger : he had at that time two musket 
balls passed through his clothes; but, like general Washing- 
ton, he never received a wound. He was also no less distin- 
guished for his courage, presence of mind, and intrepidity of 
conduct at Groton Fort. He was the first man who dared to 
enter that fortress after the disgraceful and unprecedented 
assassinatiou of colonel Ledyard. At that critical juncture, he 
rode into the fort, and with his own hands extinguished the 
fire which had been set to a train of wet powder by the Bri- 
tish, previous to their leaving, which, as has often been said 



374 PETTIT. 

by those who were present, would in less than live minutes,, 
have communicated with the dry powder in the magazine, and 
blown him, and all those who immediately followed him. into 
eternity. Major Peters, after the close of the war, entered 
immediately upon the busines of his profession, and soon be- 
came, and was for many years, one of the most learned law- 
yers, and able advocates in practice at the New-London Coun- 
ty bar. He was through a long life remarkable for the cor- 
rectness and purity of his style, whether he expressed himself 
with his pen, or orally, as he was also of a strong and reten- 
tive memory. Every story or circumstance, which he deem- 
ed worthy of notice, he could call to mind and relate with the 
utmost correctness, even unto his latest days. 

He died in Norwich. Connecticut, in the year 1823. 

PETTIT, Charles, was educated and practised with re- 
putation as a lawyer. At the commencement of the revolu- 
tion lie was secretary of New-Jersey (the province in which 
he was born) under governor Franklin, the son of the Ameri- 
can sage. He immediately, however, joined the standard of 
independence, and throughout the memorable contest he was 
a constant, a faithful and an efficient public agent. He con- 
tinued, under governor Livingston, in the station of secreta- 
ry, until called to act in a more extensive field. By a reso- 
lution of congress he was associated with his friends general 
Greene n\u\ colonel Coxe, in the department of quarter- master- 
general to the American army; and those friends, who well 
knew the intelligence of his mind, the force of his industry, 
and the ardor of his patriotism, with a merited and fortunate 
confidence, devolved upon him the principal execution of this 
arduous trust. General Washington, who praised him: the 
soldiers who loved him; and the government who thanked (but 
did not perhaps sufficiently reward) him, have borne testimo- 
ny of his meritorious and exemplary services, in every vicis- 
situde of the war. 

General Greene had accepted the appointment of quarter- 
master-general only upon condition that the two gentlemen 
above named should be associated with him. An account of the 
peculiar difficulties which they all had to encounter, in the 
management of this highly important branch of the public ser- 
vice, will be found contained in the letters written by them at 
the time, and referred to, and in part cited by Judge John- 
son in the first volume of his "Sketches of the life and charac- 
ter of general Greene." Upon the resignation by general 
Greene of his station at the head of the department, proposals 
were made to colonel Pcttit to succeed to that important post. 
Circumstances, however, of an imperative nature, had com- 
pelled general Greene to resign, and as these equally concern 



PICKENS. 375 

£<! colonel Pettit, who was upon terras of the most intimate 
and confidential friendship with him, the overtures were of 
course declined. 

On the declaration of peace, Mr. Pettit chose Philadelphia 
for his residence, and became one of the most intelligent, ac- 
tive, and influential merchants of the city. He still, however, 
participated in public business. He was an active agent to 
procure a fair provision for the public creditors : himself it 
is true, having become in very hazardous times, to almost the 
whole extent of his fortune, a public creditor. As a member 
of the legislature of Pennsylvania, he was the author of the 
funding system of the state : not with a view to embarrass 
the then federal government, but with a view to alleviate the 
distresses of his constituents, till the federal government had 
acquired the power to do them justice. He was also a dele- 
gate in Congress, under the confederation, and then for the 
benefit of the union, as well as of the state, he acquired the 
general confidence : employing that confidence in the ad- 
vancement of the public good, regardless of personal advan- 
tage. On the great question relative to the present constitu- 
tion of the United States, he stated his objections with firm- 
ness, but he recommended its adoption with candour ; and it 
is known that he became the principal instrument of subdu- 
ing the Pennsylvania opposition, by his conciliatory conduct 
and forcible reasoning, as a conferee, at the general confer- 
ence which was held in Harrisburgh, previously to the ulti- 
mate vote of ratification. 

For some years before his death, Mr. Pettit mingled little 
in the controversies, and felt little of the cares of public life. 
As a man of business, however, he displayed great talents, 
assiduity, and fidelity, in presiding over the first incorporated 
insurance company of Philadelphia. As a member of society, 
he circulated useful information, settled commercial disputes, 
and cultivated by precept as well as example, *■* Peace on 
earth, and good will towards men :" while as the father of a 
numerous, respectable and respected offspring, he raised a mo- 
nument to perpetuate the memory of his domestic virtues and 
affections, which shall endure as long as the feelings of grati- 
tude can influence the present generation, or the narrative of 
truth can awaken the sensibility of their posterity. He died 
at Philadelphia, on the sixth day of September, 1806, in the 
seventieth year of his age. 

PICKENS, Andrew, was born in Bucks county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 13th September, 1739. His ancestors were 
driven from France by the revocation of the edict of Nantz. 
They first settled in Scotland, and afterwards in the north of 
Ireland. His father emigrated to Pennsylvania, from where 



376 PICKENS. 

he removed to Augusta county, Virginia, and soon after to the 
Waxhaws. in South Carolina, before Andrew had attained 
the age of manhood. 

Like many of our most distinguished officers of the revolu- 
tion, he commenced his military services in the French war. 
which terminated i:i 17G3, when he began to develope those 
qualities for which he was afterwards so eminently distin- 
guished. In the year 1761. he seiwed as a volunteer with 
Moultrie and Marion, in a bloody but successful expedition, 
under lieutenant colonel Grant, a British officer, sent by ge- 
neral Amherst to command against the Cherokees. After the 
termination of the war, he removed to the Long Cane settle- 
ment, and was wholly engaged for several years in the usual 
pursuits of a frontier country ; hunting and agriculture. 

At an early period he took a decided stand against the righ t 
claimed by Great Britain, to tax her colonies without their 
consent ; and at the commencement of the revolution was ap- 
pointed captain of militia. The distinguished part which he 
acted in the struggle for independence, has been rcconled by 
the historian, and the principal events can only be alluded to 
in the present sketch. His zeal and skill were rewarded by 
his country, by his being rapidly promoted to the respective 
commands of major, colonel, and brigadier general. In the 
most despondent time, when this section of the union was 
overrun by the enemy, and suffered from the tories all the hor- 
rors of civil war, he remained unshaken, and, with Marion 
and Sumpter, kept up the spirit of resistance. He commanded 
in chief in the expedition against the Cherokees, in 1781 ; 
and such was his success, that in a few days, with an incon- 
siderable force, he subdued the spirit of that then powerful 
nation, and laid the foundation of a peace so permanent, that 
it has not since been disturbed. 

At Kettle Creek his conduct was equally distinguished and 
successful ; with half the force, he defeated, after a severe con- 
test, a large body of tories, under the command of colonel 
Boyd. The results of this victory were highly important. It 
broke the spirit of the tories, and secured the internal peace for 
a considerable time, of the interior of the Caroliuas and Geor- 
gia. No less conspicuous was his conduct at the Cowpens. 
He there commanded the militia forces : and, animated by the 
spirit and courage of their commander in that important bat- 
tle, they fairly won an equal share of glory with the continen- 
tals, under colonel Howard. For his gallantry and conduct 
on that occasion, Congress voted him a sword. At the En- 
taw he commanded, with Marion, the militia of the two Car- 
oliuas : hut in the early part of the action received a severe 
wound in his breast by a musket ball. His life was providen- 
tially saved by the bail striking the buckle of his sword. 



PICKENS. 377 

When Charleston fell, and the victorious Britons spreading 
themselves over the country, advanced into the interior, the 
revived resentments of the royalists, compelled Colonel Pic- 
kens, and the steady adherents of the cause of freedom, to 
abandon their habitations and country, and seek for refuge in 
North Carolina. So soon, however, as General Greene had 
taken command of the army, and ordered General Morgan to 
enter the western division of the state, to check the aggres- 
sions of the enemy, and to revive the drooping spirits of the 
whig inhabitants, Colonel Pickens was found the most active 
among his associates, seconding his enterprises, am! by gen- 
tleness and conciliation, attaching new adherents to the cause. 
Of his intrepid conduct at the battle of the Cowpens, it is 
scarcely necessary to speak. It is a well known fact that he 
not only prevailed upon his riflemen to retain their fire till it 
could be given with deadly uTect, but, when broken, and 
compelled to retreat that he rallied them ; and what had ne- 
ver before been effected with militia, brought them a second 
time to meet their enemy, and by continued exertion, to ac- 
complish their final surrender. 

Peace being restored, the voice of his country called him to 
serve her in various civil capacities ; and he continued, with- 
out interruption, in public employment until about 1801. By 
the treaty of Hopewell, with the Cherokees, in which he was 
one of the commissioners, the cession of that portion of the 
state now called Pendleton and Greenville, was obtained. 
Soon after he settled at Hopewell, on Keowee river, where the 
treaty was held. He was a member of the legislature, and af- 
terwards of the convention which formed the state constitu- 
tion. He was elected a member under the new constitution, 
until 1794, when he became a member of Congress. Declin- 
ing a re-election to congress, he was again returned a member 
to the legislature, in which post he continued until about 1811. 
Such was the confidence of general Washington in him, that 
he requested his attendance at Philadelphia, to consult with 
him on the practicability and best means of civilizing the 
southern Indians ; and he also offered him the command of 
a brigade of light troops, under the command of general Wayne, 
in his campaigns against the northern Indians; which he de- 
clined. In 1794, when the militia was first organized confor- 
mable to the act of Congress, he was appointed one of the two 
major generals; which commission he resigned after holding 
it a few years. He was employed by the United States as a 
commissioner in all the treaties with the southern Indians, 
until he withdrew from public life. 

Determining to enjoy that serenity and tranquillity which 
he had so greatly contributed to establish, with the simplici- 

48 



378 1'ICKENS. 

ty of the early times of the Roman republic, he retired from 
the,busy scenes of life, ami settled on his farm at Tomussee, 
(a place peculiarly interesting to him) where he devoted him- 
self with little interruption to domestic pursuits and reflection 
until his death. In this tranquil period, few events happen- 
ed to check the tenor of his happy and virtuous life. Reve- 
red and beloved by all, his house, though remote from the 
more frequented parts of the state, was still the resort of nu- 
merous friends and relations ; and often received the visits of 
the enlightened traveller. Such was the gentle current of his 
latter years ; still, of earthly objects, his country vvas the first 
in his affections. He viewed with great interest our late strug- 
gle, and the causes which excited it, distinctly perceiving, that 
in its consequences the prosperity, independence and glory of 
his country were deeply involved; he was alive to its various 
incidents. In this hour of danger the eyes of his fellow citi- 
zens were again turned to their tried servant ; without his 
knowledge he was again called by the spontaneous voice of 
his fellow citizens into public service. Confidence thus ex- 
pressed could not be disregarded; he accepted a seat in the 
legislature in 1812, and was pressed to serve as governor at 
this eventful crisis, which, with his characteristic moderation 
and good sense, he declined. He thought the struggle should 
be left to more youthful hands. 

He died in South Carolina on the 11th of October, 1S1T. 

In his domestic circumstances he was fortunate : by indus- 
try and attention he soon acquired a competency ; and never 
desired more. He married in early life, has left a numerous 
and prosperous offspring, and his consort, the sister of John 
E. Calhoun, formerly a senator in congress, died but a few 
years before him. 

Of the private character of the deceased little need be said : 
for among its strongest features was simplicity without con- 
trariety or change; from his youth to age he was ever distin- 
guished for a punctual performance of all the duties of life. 
He was from early life a firm believer in the christian religion, 
and an influential member of the Presbyterian church. The 
strong points of his character were, decision and prudence, ac- 
companied, especially in youth, with remarkable taciturnity. 
He was of middle stature, active and robust ; and enjoyed, in 
consequence of the natural goodness of his constitution, and 
from early and combined temperance and activity, almost un- 
interrupted health to the last moments of his life. He retain- 
ed much of his strength and near y all his mental vigour in 
perfection ; and died, not in consequence of the exhaustion of 
nature, or previous sickness ; for the stroke of deatli fell sud- 
den, and while his persor :il acquaintance were anticipating 
Hie addition of many years to his life. 



PORTER. ^~ 379 

PORTER, Andrew, colonel of the fourth or Pennsylva- 
nia regiment of artillery, and subsequently brigadier and 
major general of the second division Pennsyls ania militia, was 
born in what is now Worcester township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 24th September, 1743. His life af- 
fords a striking and useful example of what native energy and 
genius may accomplish, unfostered and unaided, except by its 
own exertions. Without the influence of family and friends, 
without the common advantages of early education, he rose 
to rank and respectability, both in civil and military life, and 
held a distinguished station in the scientific world. Nature 
gifted him with a strong and vigorous intellect, and a clear 
discriminating mind ; and these faculties being applied, al- 
though comparatively at a late period in life, to scientific pur- 
suits, witii untiring industry and perseverance, their posses- 
sor was rewarded with a success seldom attained by those 
who enter on a similar course under more favourable aus- 
pices. 

His father, Mr. Robert Porter, a native of Ireland, who 
emigrated to t!i is country in early life, was a respectable far- 
mer, but in moderate circumstances, and having a large fami- 
ly of children, he was unable, had he been so disposed, to ex-, 
pend much upon their education. Andrew, the subject of this 
notice, had shewn an early taste for reading what few- 
books he could procure ; and when at the age of eighteen or 
nineteen, his father had determined on his learning the trade 
of a carpenter, with an elder brother, that brother, after a few 
months trial, declared he must give him up ; that Andrew 
was too fond of books and of figures, and too little disposed 
to Work, ever to be useful to him as an apprentice. About 
this period of his life a circumstance occurred, laughable in 
itself, but which had a serious effect in giving a direction to 
his future pursuits. He had from the first discovered a taste 
for mathematics, and had read some few books in that branch 
of science, in which he was directed by an Irish gentle- 
man, named Patrick Mennon, whom he occasionally met, 
and who taught a school some twelve or fifteen miles from 
Mr. Porter's residence. Seeing in those books the draft of a 
sun-dial, and the principles upon which it was constructed, 
he conceived the idea of making one for himself. He started 
off to a soap stone quarry on the banks of the river Schuyl- 
kill, near Spring Mill, and having selected a suitable stone, 
lie carried it to his father's residence, a distance of eight or 
ten miles, where, his brothers being absent, he reduced it to 
a proper size and shape by the use of their saws, planes, and 
chissels, but in his operation completely spoiled the tools : 
the dial was finished ; but on the return of his brothers he 



3bo PORTER. 

\^ 
was banished from the carpenter's shop. His lather then at- 
tempted to confine him to the business of farming : this too 
failed : and believing that his aversion to labour, and his 
fondness for books, were so great that he would never bo sue-. 
cessful as a farmer or mechanic, he determined on fitting 
him, in some measure, for the humble occupation of a coun- 
try school-master. He was sent for a short time to Mr. Men- 
lion's school, during which he made rapid improvement, es- 
pecially in the mathematics, and then opened a school him- 
self in the neighbourhood of his father's residence, pursuing 
his favourite study at every leisure moment. 

Understanding that Dr. Rittenhousc was spending some 
time at his farm, in Norriton, young Mr. Porter paid him a 
visit for the purpose of borrowing some work on fluxions, or 
conic sections. The doctor enquired whether he had ever had 
any mathematical instruction : from whom, and for what pe- 
riod of time ; and finding that he had received but a few 
months regular tuition, told him he thought he could not com- 
prehend the work which he wished to borrow. Our young 
mathematician, however, insisted that he was prepared to en- 
ter on the subject, and a conversation ensued, which so sa- 
tisfied the Doctor of the correctness of his knowledge, that he 
advised him not to bury himself in the country, but immedi- 
ately to proceed to Philadelphia, and open a mathematical 
school there. 

In the spring of the year 1767, he removed to Philadelphia, 
and took charge of an English and Mathematical school, 
which he conducted with much reputation and celebrity, un- 
til the spring of the year 1776, when, at his country's call, 
he bade adieu to his peaceful avocations, to defend her cause. 
During his residence in Philadelphia, he was the associate of 
Doctors Rittenhouse, Ewing, Rush, and other distinguished 
scientific men, made great progress in his favourite studies, 
and became an accurate astronomer. 

On the 19th of June, 1776, he was commissioned by Con- 
gress a captain of marines, and ordered on board the frigate 
Effingham. At this time his school contained about one hun- 
dred scholars, and enabled him to support, comfortably, a 
family of five small children, who had recently lost their mo- 
ther ; but all considerations of family or self seemed to him 
to be lost in the cause of his country. Not finding in the ma- 
rine service the opportunity of rendering his country the ser- 
vice he desired, he was shortly after transferred to the artil- 
lery, a corps, in which, from his previous studies, he was 
qualified to bo eminently useful. He continued to serve as a 
captain of artillery, with great reputation for science and 
bravery, until the year 1782, when he was promoted to a ma 



PORTER. 381 

jority, to rank as such from the 19th of April, 1781. He was 
subsequently promoted to the successive ranks of lieutenant 
colonel, lieutenant colonel commandant, and colonel of the 
fourth, or Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery ; which lat- 
ter station he held at the disbanding of the army. 

While in the army, he was personally engaged in the 
cannonade at Trenton, and in the battles of Princeton, 
Brandywine, and Germantown. In the latter action, nearly 
all his company were killed or taken prisoners ; and in the 
first, he received on the field, in person, the commendation 
of General Washington, for his conduct in the action. In the 
month of April, 1779, he was detached with his company to 
join General James Clinton's brigade, in the operations un- 
der General Sullivan, against the Indians. He left the grand 
park of artillery at Pluckamin, on the sixth, and arrived at 
Albany on the 13th of May, where he joined General Clin- 
ton, with whom he proceeded to Canajoharie on the Mo- 
hawk river. Hence tite troops were marched to the head of 
the Otsego lake. Here it was that Captain Porter suggested 
to General Clinton the idea of damming the outlet of the lake, 
to collect a sufficiency of water for the conveyance of the 
troops in boats to Tioga point, where they were to meet Ge- 
neral Sullivan's army. The experiment was tried ; the water 
in the lake raised, by stopping the outlet, to the height of 
three feet, and an artificial fresh created, which answered the 
proposed purpose, and the effect of which on the river was 
felt as low as Northumberland. The troops arrived safely at 
Tioga Point, joined General Sullivan, and having by the bat- 
tle of the 29th of August, and the subsequent destruction of 
the Indian towns, cornfields, &c. accomplished the object of 
the expedition, the artillery rejoined the main army, and 
wintered at Morristown. 

When the siege of York town was determined on, Colonel 
Porter was ordered to proceed to Philadelphia, and superin- 
tend the laboratory, at which the various kinds of ammuni- 
tion for that siege were prepared. He remonstrated against 
being thus removed from a station in which he might distin- 
guish himself in the field, to the superintendence of what was 
generally considered a mere chemical laboratory. His objec- 
tions were silenced at once by this remark of the Commander 
in Chief : " You say you are desirous of being placed in that 
situation in which you can render your country the most ef- 
ficient services : our success depends much on the manner in 
which our cartridges, bombs, and matches are prepared. The 
eye of science is required to superintend their preparation ; 
and if the information of General Knox, who knows you 
well and intimately, is to he depended on, there is no ofiicer 



\ 



382 PORTER. 

in the army better qualified than yourself, for the station I 
have assigned you." 

The grand object for which the Americans had taken up 
arms, having been accomplished by the peace of 1783, and 
the army being disbanded. Colonel Porter retired to private 
life. The trustees of the University of Pennsylvania tendered 
to him the Professorship of Mathematics in that institution, 
which he declined. He was subsequently appointed by the 
supreme executive Council of the state, a commissioner for 
running by astronomical observations, the lines between 
Pennsylvania and Virginia ; Pennsylvania and what is now 
Ohio : and Pennsylvania and New York. In this business 
he was engaged during the years 1784, '5, '6, and '7, in 
company with Dr. Rittenhouse, Bishop Madison, Dr. Ew- 
ing, General Clinton, and other gentlemen of science. He 
shortly after retired to his farm, in Norriton township, Mont- 
gomery county, within a few miles of the place of his nativi- 
ty, on which he continued to reside until the spring of 1809. 
In the year 1800, he was appointed, in conjunction with Ge- 
nerals Irvine and Eoude, to settle the controversies of the 
Pennsylvania claimants in the seventeen townships, in the 
county of Luzerne, but resigned the situation the next spring. 
In the same year he was appointed Brigadier General of the 
first brigade, second division of Pennsylvania Militia ; and 
shortly after, on the removal of General Peter Muhlenberg 
to Philadelphia, he was made Major General of the division. 

In the month of April, 1809, the late excellent and lament- 
ed governor Snyder, selected him to fill the office of Surveyor 
General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which situa- 
tion he held until his decease, which took place on the 16th of 
November, 1813. The present lucid arrangement of that of- 
fice was effected b} r him. He found it in much disorder, re- 
modelled it, and made order and harmony out of chaos and 
confusion. 

Dining the years 1812 and 1813, he declined the situations 
of brigadier general in the army, and secretary at war of the 
United States, both which were offered to him by president 
Madison, believing that his advanced age would prevent the 
execution of the duties of either situation with that efficiency 
which the public good and his own character required. 

He died, universally lamented, at the advanced age of se- 
venty years and upwards, and was buried at Harrisburg with 
military honours, in the Presbyterian burial ground at that 
place, where a neat white marble monument designates the 
depository of his remains. 

General Porter was twice married ; first in 1767, and se 
condly in 1777, his first wife having died in the year 1775. 



/ 



PREBLE. 383 

He left to survive him his second wife, and ten children ; six 
sons and four daughters. In stature he was rather ahovethe 
middle size, athletic, and rather inclined to corpulency. His 
long service in the army, gave him a military air and digni- 
ty, which he carried with him throughout life. He was gen- 
tlemanly and courteous in his intercourse with society ; but 
premeditated injury could rouse instantly all the appalling 
energy of his character. In his politics he was decidedly re- 
publican r in his morals, pure ; and in his friendships, warm 
and sincere. 

PREBLE, Edward, commodore in the American navy, 
was born August 15, 1761, in Portland, Massachusetts. From 
early childhood he discovered a strong disposition for hazards 
and adventures, and a firm, resolute, and persevering tem- 
per. In his youth he became a mariner on board a merchant 
vessel. 

In the year 1779, he hecame a midshipman in the state ship 
Protector, of twenty-six guns, commanded by that brave offi- 
cer, John Forster Williams, who has always spoken with em- 
phasis of the courage and good conduct of Mr. Preble, while 
in his ship. 

On the first cruise of the Protector, she engaged, off New- 
foundland, the letter of marque Admiral Duff, of 36 guns. It 
was a short but hard fought action. These vessels were con- 
stantly very near and much of the time along side, so that balls 
were thrown from one to the other by hand. The Duff struck, 
but taking fire about the same time, she in a few minutes blew 
up. Between thirty and forty of her people were saved and 
taken on board the Protector, where a malignant fever soon 
spread and carried off two thirds of captain Williams's crew. 
He returned to an eastern port, and landing his prisoners and 
recruiting his men, sailed on a second cruise. Falling in with 
a British sloop of war and frigate, the Protector was captured. 
The principal officers were taken to England, but Preble, 
by the interest of a friend of his father, colonel William 
Tyng, obtained his release at New-York and returned to 
his friends. 

He then entered as first lieutenant on board the sloop of war 
Winthrop, captain George Little, who had been captain Wil- 
liams's second in command in the Protector, had scaled the 
walls of his prison at Plymouth, and with one other person 
escaping in a wherry to France, took passage thence to Bos- 
ton- 
One of Mr. Preble's exploits, while in this station, has been 
often mentioned as an instance of daring courage and cool in- 
trepidity not less than of good fortune. He boarded and cut 
out an English armed brig of superior force to the Winthrop 



384 PREBLE. 

lying in Penobscot harbour, under circumstances which justly 
gave the action great eclat. Little had taken the brig's ten- 
der, from whom he gained such information of the situation 
of the brig, as made him resolve to attempt seizing on her by 
surprise. He run her along side in the night, having prepa- 
red forty men to jump into her dressed in white frocks, to en- 
able them to distinguish friend from foe. Coming close upon 
her he was hailed by the enemy, who, as was said, supposed 
the Winthi'op must be her tender, and who cried out, "you 
will run aboard." He answered, "I am coming aboard," 
and immediately Preble, with fourteen men. sprung into the 
brig. The motion of the vessel was so rapid that the rest of 
the forty destined for hoarding missed their opportunity. Lit- 
tle called to his lieutenant "will you not have more men?" 
"No," he answered with great presence of mind and a loud 
voice; "we have more than we want: we stand in each other's 
way." Those of the enemy's crew who were on deck chiefly 
leaped over the side, and others below from the cabin window 
and swam to the shore, which was within pistol shot. Pre- 
ble instantly entering the cabin, found the officers in bed or 
just rising ; he assured them they were his prisoners and that 
resistance was vain, and if attempted, would be fatal to them. 
Believing they were surprised and mastered by superior num- 
bers, they forbore any attempt to rescue the vessel and sub- 
mitted. The troops of the enemy marched down to the shore, 
and commenced a brisk firing with muskets, and the battery 
opened a canonade, which, however, was too high to take ef- 
fect. In the mean time the captors beat their prize out of the 
harbour, exposed for a considerable space to volleys of mus- 
ketry, and took her in triumph to Boston. 

Lieutenant Preble continued in the Winthrop till the peace 
of 1783. 

In 1801, he had the command of the frigate Essex, in which 
he performed a voyage to the East Indies, for the protection 
of our trade. In 1804, he was appointed commodore, with a 
squadron of seven sail, and he soon made his passage to the 
Mediterranean with the design of humbling the Tripolitan 
barbarians. He, with commodore Rodgers, (who commodore 
Preble succeeded) and captain Bainbrr'ge, took such mea- 
sures with regard to the emperor of Morocco, as led to a peace. 
The commodore in giving an account to his government of 
his proceedings, observed, "In the whole of this business I 
have advised with colonel Lear, Mr. Simpson, and commo- 
dore Rodgers. I am confident we have all been actuated by 
the same motive, the good of our country " 

Commodore Preble having nothing at present to fear from 
Morocco, directed his principal attention to Tripoli. He or- 



PREBLE. Hi 

ieied the frigate Philadelphia, captain Bainhridge, and the 
schooner Vixen, to the coast of Tripoli, and formally declar- 
ed the blockade of that place, and sent notice of the fact to the 
respective neutral powers. On the 31st of October, the Phi- 
ladelphia frigate, after pursuing a Tripolitan corsair till she 
came to seven fathoms water, in beating off she ran on a rock j 
not laid down in any chart, about four and a half miles from 
the town. Every exertion to get her off, proved ineffectual. 
Meanwhile she was attacked by numerous gun-boats, which 
she withstood for four hours, whilst the careening of the ship 
made the guns totally useless. A reinforcement coming off, 
and no possible means of resisting them appearing, the cap- 
tain submitted to the horrid necessity of striking to his bar- 
barous enemy. They took possession of the ship, and made 
prisoners of the officers and men, in number three hundred, 
with robbery, violence, and insult. In forty-eight hours, the 
wind blowing in shore, the Tripolitans were able to get off 
the frigate, and having raised her guns, towed her into the 
harbor of Tripoli. The commodore apprehended the worst 
from this diminution of his force ; a war with Tunis, and per- 
haps with Algiers ; at least, a protraction of the present war. 
He now procured a number of gun-boats from the king of 
Naples, and proceeded to the attack of Tripoli. 

February 3rd, 1 804, lieutenant Stephen Decatur, with sc-> 
venty volunteers in the Intrepid, and accompanied by the Sy- 
ren, sailed for Tripoli, with a view to destroy, as they could 
not in any event expect to bring out, the frigate Philadelphia. 
On the 16th, the service was accomplished in the most gal- 
lant manner. Lieutenant Decatur entered the harbour of 
Tripoli in the night; and laying his vessel along side the 
frigate, boarded and carried her against all opposition. A 
large number of men were on board, of whom twenty or 
thirty were slain, and the remainder driven over the side* 
excepting one boat's crew 7 , which escaped to the shore, and 
one person made prisoner. The assailants then set fire to her, 
and left her. She was soon in a complete blaze, and was to- 
tally consumed. The frigate lay within half gun shot of the 
castle and the principal battery, with her guns mounted and 
loaded, and two corsairs full of men, were riding very near. 
We had none killed, and only one wounded. 

From this time till the bombardment of Tripoli, the com- 
modore was occupied in cruising and keeping up the block- 
ade of the Tripoline harbour. In August the American squad- 
ron and gunboats attacked the shipping and batteries, and a 
desperate conflict ensued, which resulted gloriously for the 
American arms. Such was the consternation of the Turks, 
that the Bashaw retreated, it is said, with his priest, to his 

49 



386 PRESCOTT. 

bomb proof room. Many of the guns of the forts were dis 
mounted, and the town considerably damaged. In September, 
commodore Preble obtained leave to return home. The offi- 
cers of the squadron joined in ^n address to their late com- 
mander, containing the strongest expressions of attachment 
and respect. The congress of the United States voted the 
thanks of the nation and an emblematical medal, which were 
presented by the president with emphatic declarations of esteem 
and admiration. 

When the commodore returned he was received and treated 
every where with distinguished attention. His countrymen 
showed that they were proud of his fame, and grateful for his 
services. The next year peace was made with Tripoli, and 
the prisoners ransomed. He died on the 25th August, 1807, 
in the 46th year of his age. 

The person, air, and countenance, of commodore Preble 
answered to his character. His features expressed strong 
passions along with manly and generous feelings. His atti- 
tude was erect, yet easy and natural ; and his whole appear- 
ance and port were noble and commanding. 

PRESCOTT, William, was an officer distinguished by 
the most determined bravery, and became conspicuous as an 
American officer from the circumstance of his having com- 
manded the American troops at the battle of Bunker hill, on 
the memorable 17th of June, 1775. He was born in 1726, at 
Goshen, in Massachusetts, and was a lieutenant of the pro- 
vincial troops at the capture of Cape Breton, in 1758. The 
British General was so much pleased with his conduct in that 
campaign, that he offered him a commission in the regular 
army, which he declined, to return home with his country- 
men. From this time till the approach of the revolutionary 
war, he remained on his farm in Pepperel, filling various 
municipal offices, and enjoying the esteem and affection of 
his fellow citizens. As the difficulties between the mother 
country and the colonies grew more serious, he took a deep- 
er and more decided part in public affairs. 

In 1774, he was appointed to command a regiment of mi- 
nute men, organized by the provincial congress. He marched 
his regiment to Lexington, immediately on receiving notice 
of the intended operations of General Gage against Concord ; 
but the British detachment had retreated before he had time 
to meet it. He then proceeded to Cambridge, and entered 
the army that was ordered to be raised ; and the greater 
part of his officers and privates volunteered to serve with 
him for the first campaign. 

On the 16th June, three regiments were placed under him. 
and he was ordered to Charlestown in the evening, to take 



PRE SCOTT. 387 

possession of Bunker hill, and throw up works in its de- 
fence. When they reached the ground, it was perceived that 
Breed's hill, which is a few rods south of Bunker's hill, was 
the most suitable station. The troops under the direction of 
Colonel Gridley. an able engineer, were busily engaged in 
throwing up a small redoubt and breast-work, which latter 
was formed by placing two rail fences near together, and fill- 
ing the interval with the new mown hay lying on the ground. 
There was something in the rustic materials of these defen- 
ces, hastily made, in a short summer's night, within gun- 
shot of a powerful enemy, that was particularly apposite to 
to a body of armed husbandmen, who had rushed to the field 
at the first sound of alarm. 

As soon as these frail works were discovered the next 
morning, the British commander made preparations to get 
possession of them. General Howe, with various detach- 
ments, amounting to near 5000 men, was ordered to dislodge 
the " rebels." The force which Colonel Prescott could com- 
mand for the defence of the redoubt and breast-work, was 
about 1200 men. Very few of these had ever seen an action. 
They had been labouring all night in creating these defences; 
and the redoubt, if it could be so called, was open on two 
sides. Instead of being relieved by fresh troops, as they had 
expected, they were left without supplies of ammunition or 
refreshment : and thus fatigued and destitute, they had to 
bear the repeated assaults of a numerous, well appointed, ve- 
teran army. They destroyed nearly as many of their as- 
sailants, as the whole of their own number engaged ; and 
they did not retreat till their ammunition was exhausted, and 
the enemy supplied with fresh troops and cannon, completely 
overpowered them. 

Colonel Prescott lost nearly one quarter of his own regi- 
ment in the action. When General Warren came upon the 
hill, Colonel Prescott asked him if he had any orders to give : 
he answered, "No, colonel, I am only a volunteer ; the com- 
mand is yours." When he was at length forced to tell his 
men to retreat as well as they could, he was one of the last 
who left the intrenchment. He was so satisfied with the bra- 
very of his companions, and convinced that the enemy were 
disheartened by the severe and unexpected loss which they 
had sustained, that he requested the commander in chief to 
give him two regiments, and he would retake the position the 
same night. 

He continued in the service till the beginning of 1777, when 
he resigned and returned to his home : but in the autumn of 
that year he went as a volunteer to the northern army under 
General Gates, and assisted in the capture of General Bur- 



PRESCOTT. 

goyne. This was his last military service. He was subse 
quently, for several years, a member of the legislature, and 
died in 1795, in the seventieth year of his age. 

Colonel Prescott was a genuine specimen of an energetic, 
brave, and patriotic citizen, who was ready in the hour of 
danger, to place himself in the van, and partake in all the 
perils of his country ; feeling anxious for its prosperity, 
without caring to share in its emoluments ;'and maintaining 
beneath a plain exterior and simple babits, a dignified ride 
in his native land, and a high-minded love of freedom. 

The immediate results of this engagement were great and 
various. Though the Americans were obliged to yield the 
ground for want of ammunition, yet their defeat was sub- 
stantially a triumph. The actual loss of the British army 
was severe, and was deeply felt by themselves and their 
friends. The charm of their invincibility was broken. The 
hopes of the whole continent were raised. It was demonstra- 
ted that although they might burn towns, or overwhelm raw 
troops by superior discipline and numbers, yet the conquest 
at least would not be an easy one. Those patriots, who, an- 
der the most arduous responsibility, at the peril of every 
thing which men of sense and virtue can value, hazarded in 
the support of public principles, present ruin and future dis- 
grace, though they felt this onset to be only the beginning of 
a civil war, yet were invigorated by its results, which clear 
ed away some painful uncertainties ; while the bravery and 
firmness that had been displayed by their countrymen, inspi- 
red a more positive expectation of being ultimately trium 
phant. 

In the life of James Otis, by William Tudor, of Boston, 
from which work the foregoing is taken, the follow ing note in 
made relative to the battle. "The anxiety and various emo- 
tions of the people of Boston, on this occasion, had a highly 
dramatic kind of interest. Those w r ho sided with the British 
troops began to see even in the duration of this battle, the pos- 
sibility that they had taken the wrong side, and that they might 
become exiles from their country. While those whose whole 
soul was with their countrymen, were in dreadful appreben 
sion for their friends, in a contest, the severity of which waa 
shewn by the destruction of so many of their enemies. 

" After the battle had continued for some time, a young per- 
son living in Boston, possessed of very keen and generous feel- 
ings, bordering a little perhaps on the romantic, as was natu- 
ral to her age, sex, and lively imagination, finding that many 
of the wounded troops brought over from the field of action 
were carried by her residence, mixed a quantity of refreshing 
{leverage* and with a female domestic by her side, stood at th<j 



PRIOLEAU. 389 

floor and offered it to the sufferers as they were borne along, 
burning with fever and parched with thirst. Several of them, 
grateful for the kindness, gave her, as they thought, consola- 
tion, by assuring her of the destruction of her countrymen. 
One young officer said, " never mind it my young lady, we 
have peppered 'em well, depend upon it." Her dearest feel- 
ings, deeply interested in the opposite camp, were thus unin- 
tentionally lacerated, while she was pouring oil and wine 
into their wounds." 

General Henry Lee, in his memoirs of the war in the South- 
ern Department, makes the following remark, in relation to 
Prescott and his gallant band : 

" When future generations shall enquire, where are the 
men who gained the brightest prize of glory in the arduous 
contest which ushered in our nation's birth ?' upon Prescott 
and his companions in arms will the eye of history beam. 
The military annals of the world rarely furnish an achieve- 
ment which equals the firmness an;' courage displayed on that 
proud day by the gallant band of Americans : and it certain- 
ly stands first in the brilliant events of the war." 

PRIOLEAU, Samuel, was a native of Charleston, South 
Carolina. In the contest for our independence, he took an 
early and an active part, from which lie never shrunk during 
ihe whole course of that memorable struggle: encountering 
with his countrymen a full share of its dangers ; and sustain- 
ing its vicissitudes "throughout those scenes that tried men's 
souls." After the fall of Charleston, he was numbered by 
the British with that band of patriots, whose constancy they 
attempted to subdue by the torture of exile, persecution and 
imprisonment. At St. Augustine he patiently and manfully 
sustained, with his compatriots, all the sufferings and indigni- 
ties heaped upon them by the enemy ; while his wife and fam- 
ily of young children, stripped of all their means, were ban- 
ished from their home, and transported to Philadelphia. Firm, 
amidst these storms of adversity, he disdained to purchase 
from the enemy the smallest immunity or mitigation for him- 
self or family, by abating a single sentiment in favor of his 
country, or by ceasing to be a bold and exemplary advocate 
for her independence. After the revolution, he repaired, by a 
course of unabating industry, the ravages it had made on his 
fortune ; and maintained to the end of life the character of an 
honest upright man. In his private relations he was justly 
endeared for his affection, tenderness, indulgence, and benefi- 
cence; the impressions of which will long remain, after the 
lenient hand of time shall have assuaged the poignancy of 
grief for the loss of such a husband, father and friend. 

He died in Charleston, on the 23d March, 1813, in the se- 
venty-first year of his age. 



590 PULASKI. 

PULASKI, (count.) This gallant soldier was a native of 
Poland, whose disastrous history is well known. Vainly 
struggling to restore the lost independence of his country, he 
was forced to seek personal safety by its abandonment. Pu- 
laski, with a few men, in the year 1771, carried off king Stan- 
islaus from the middle of his capitol, though surrounded by a 
numerous body of guards, and a Russian army. The king 
soon escaped and declared Pulaski an outlaw. Hearing of the 
glorious struggle in which we were engaged, he hastened to 
the wilds of America, and associated himself with our perils 
and our fortunes. Congress honoured him with the commis- 
sion of brigadier general, with a view, as was rumoured, of 
placing him at the head of the American calvary, the line of 
service in which he had been bred. But his ignorance of our 
language; and the distaste of our officers to foreign superiori- 
ty, stifled this project. He was then authorised to raise a le- 
gionary corps, appointing his own officers. 

Indefatigable and persevering, the count collected about two 
hundred infantry and two hundred horse, made up of all sorts, 
chiefly of German deserters. His officers were generally for- 
eign, with some Americans. With this assemblage, the count 
took the field ; and after serving some time in the northern ar- 
my, he was sent to the south, and fell at the battle of Savan- 
nah. There slumbers the gallant Pole, the immortal Pulaski, 
who threw himself into the arms of America, and professed 
himself the champion of her rights: and in the unfortunate af- 
fair of Savannah, sealed with his blood, the rising liberties 
of his adopted country. 

He was sober, diligent and intrepid, gentlemanly in his 
manners, and amiable in heart. He was very reserved, and, 
when alone, betrayed strong evidence of deep melancholy. 
Those who knew him intimately, spoke highly of the sub- 
limity of his virtue, and the constancy of his friendship. Com- 
manding this heterogeneous corps badly equipped and worse 
mounted, this brave Pole encountered difficulties and sought 
danger. Nor is there a doubt if he had been conversant in 
our language, and better acquainted with our customs and 
country, he would have become one of our most conspicuous 
and useful officers. 

General Lee, to whom we are indebted for this sketch, 
gives the following account in his memoirs, of the attack on 
Savannah, where it will be found the intrepid Pulaski made a 
gallant effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. 

" On the 9th of October, 1779, the allied troops under the 
count d'Estaing and general Lincoln, moved to the assault. 
The serious stroke having been committed to two columns, 
one was led by d'Estaing and Lincoln united, the other by 



PULASKI. 391 

count Dillon ; the third column moved upon the enemy's cen- 
tre and left, first to attract attention, and lastly to press any 
advantage which might he derived from the assault by our 
left. 

"The troops acted well their parts and the issue hung for 
some time suspended. Dillon's column, mistaking its route 
in the darkness of the morning, failed in co-operation, and 
very mucli reduced the force of the attack ; while d'Estaing 
and Lincoln, concealed by the same darkness, drew with ad- 
vantage near the enemy's lines undiscovered. Notwithstan- 
ding this loss of concert in assault by the two columns des- 
tined to carry the enemy, noble and determined was the ad- 
vance. The front of the first was greatly thinned by the foe, 
sheltered in his strong and safe defences, and aided by batte- 
ries operating not only in front but in flank. 

" Regardless of the fatal fire from their covered enemy, 
this unappalled column, led by Lincoln and d'Estaing, forced 
the abbatis and planted their standards on the parapet. All 
was gone, could this lodgment have been sustained. Mait- 
land's comprehensive eye saw the menacing blow ; and his 
vigorous mind seized the means of warding it off. He drew 
from the disposable force, the grenadiers and marines, near- 
est to the point gained. This united corps under lieutenant 
colonel Glazier assumed with joy the arduous task to recover 
the lost ground. With unimpaired strength it fell upon the 
worried head of the victorious column ; who, though piercing 
the enemy in one point, had not spread along the parapet ; 
and the besieged bringing up superior force, victory was sup- 
pressed in its birth. The triumphant standards were torn 
down ; and the gallant soldiers, who had gone so far towards 
the goal of conquest, were tumbled into the ditch and driven 
through the abbatis. About this time that Maitland was pre- 
paring this critical movement, count Pulaski, at the head of 
two hundred horse, threw himself upon the works to force 
his way into the enemy's rear. Receiving a mortal wound, 
this brave officer fell ; and his fate arrested the gallant ef- 
fort which might have changed the issue of the day. Re- 
pulsed in every point of attack, the allied generals drew off 
their troops. The retreat was effected in good order; no at- 
tempt to convert it into rout being made by the British gene- 
ral. Count d'Estaing, who, with general Lincoln, had cour- 
ted danger to give effect to the assault, was wounded. Cap- 
tain Tawes, of the provincial troops, signalized himself by 
his intrepidity in defending the redoubts committed to his 
charge, the leading points of our assault. He fell dead at 
the gate, with his sword plunged into the body of the third 
enemy, whom he had slain." 



m PUTNAM. 

Pulaski died two days after the action, and congress reso, 
red that a monument should be erected to his memory. 

PUTNAM, Israel, a major general in the army of the 
United States, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 
7, 1718. His mind was vigorous, but it was never cultivated 
by education. When he for the first time went to Boston, he 
"was insulted for his rusticity by a boy of twice his size. Af- 
ter bearing his sarcasms until his good nature was entirely 
exhausted, he attacked and vanquished the unmannerly fel 
low to the great diversion of a crowd of spectators. In run- 
ning, leaping, and wrestling, he almost always bore avvav 
the prize. In 17S9, he removed to Pomfret, in Connecticut, 
where he cultivated a considerable tract of land. He had 
however to encounter many difficulties, and among his trou- 
bles, the depredations of wolves on his sheepfold was not the 
least. In one night seventy fine sheep and goats were killed. 
A she wolf, who, with her annual whelps had for several 
years infested the vicinity, being considered as the principal 
cause of the havoc, Mr Putnam entered into a combination 
with a number of his neighbours to hunt alternately, till the\ 
should destroy her. At length the hounds drove her into her 
den, and a number of persons soon collected with guns. 
straw, fire, and sulphur, to attack the common enemy. But 
the dogs were afraid to approach her, and the fumes of brim- 
stone could not force her from the cavern. It was now ten 
o'clock at night. Mr. Putnam p. oposed to his black servant 
to descend into the cave, and shoot the wolf; but, as the ne- 
gro declined, he resolved to do it himself. Having divested 
himself of his coat and waistcoat, and having a long rope 
fastened round his legs, by which he might be pulled, back a1 
a concerted signal, he entered the cavern, head foremost, 
with a blazing torch, made of strips of birch bark, in his 
hand. He descended fifteen feet, passed along horizontally 
ten feet, and then beffan the gradual ascent, which is sixteen 
feet in length. He slowly proceeded on his hands and knees, 
in an abode which was silent as the house of death. Cau- 
tiously glancing forwards, he discovered the glaring eye- 
halls of the wolf, who started at the sight of his torch, gnash- 
ed her teeth, and gave a sullen growl. He immediately kick- 
ed the rope, and was drawn out with a friendly celerity and 
violence, which not a little bruised him. Loading his gun 
with nine buckshot, and carrying it in one hand, while he 
held the torch with the other, he descended a second time. 
As he approached the wolf, she howled, rolled her eyes, snap- 
ped her teeth, dropped her head between her legs, and was 
evidently on the point of springing at him. At this moment 
he fired at her head, and soon found himself drawn out of the 



PUTNAM, 593 

cave. Having refreshed himself, he again descended, and 
seizing the wolf by her ears, kicked the rope, and his com- 
panions above, with no small exultation, dragged them both 
out together. 

During the French war he was appointed to command a 
company of the first troops which were raised in Connecti- 
cut, in 1755. He rendered much service to the army in the 
neighborhood of Crown Point. In 1756, while near Ticon- 
deroga, he was repeatedly in the most imminent danger. He 
escaped in an adventure of one night with twelve bullet holes 
in his blanket. In August he was sent out with several hun- 
dred men to watch the motions of the enemy. Being ambus- 
caded by a party of equal numbers, a general, but irregular 
action took place. Putnam had discharged his fusee several 
times, but at length it missed fire while its muzzle was pre- 
sented to the breast of a savage. The warrior with his lifted 
hatchet and a tremendous war-whoop compelled him to sur- 
render, and then bound him to a tree. In the course of the ac- 
tion the parties changed their position, so as to bring this 
tree directly between them. The balls flew by him inces- 
santly ; many struck the tree, and some passed through his 
clothes. The enemy now gained possession of the ground, 
but being afterwards driven from the field, they carried their 
prisoners with them. At night he was stripped, and a fire 
was kindled to roast him alive. For this purpose they led 
him into a dark forest, stripped him naked, bound him to a 
tree, and piled dry brush, with other fuel, at a small dis- 
tance, in a circle round him. They accompanied their la- 
bors, as if for his funeral dirge, with screams and sounds, 
inimitable but by savage voices. Then they set the piles on 
fire. A sudden shower damped the rising flame. Still they 
strove to kindle it ; at last the blaze ran fiercely round the 
circle. Major Putnam soon began to feel the scorching heat. 
His hands were so tied that he could move his body. He often 
shifted sides as the fire approached. This sight, at the very 
idea of which, all but savages must shudder, afforded the 
highest diversion to his inhuman tormentors, who demon- 
strated the delirium of their joy by correspondent yells, dan- 
ces, and gesticulations. He saw clearly that his final hour 
was inevitably come. He summoned all his resolution, and 
composed his mind, so far as the circumstances could admit, 
to bid an eternal farewell to all he held most dear. To quit 
the world would scarcely have cost a single pang; but for 
the idea of home, but for the remembrance of domestic en- 
dearments, of the affectionate partner of his soul, and of their 
beloved offspring. His thought was ultimately fixed on a 
happier state of existence, beyond the tortures he was begin- 

50 



394 PUTNAM. 

uing to endure. The bitterness of death, even of that death 
which is accompanied with the keenest agonies, was. in a 
manner, past : nature, with a feeble struggle, was quitting 
its last hold on sublunary things, when a French officer rush- 
ed through the crowd, opened a way by scattering the burn- 
ing brands, and unbound the victim. It was Molang himself, 
to whom a savage, unwilling to see another human victim 
immolated, had run and communicated the tidings. That 
commandant spurned and severely reprimanded the barba- 
rians, whose nocturnal powwas and hellish orgies he sud- 
denly ended. Putnam did not want for feeling or gratitude. 
The French commander, fearing to trust him alone with 
them, remained till he could safely deliver him into the hands 
of his master. 

The savage approached his prisoner kindly, and seemed to 
treat him with particular affection. He offered him some 
hard biscuit ; but finding that he could not chew them, on ac- 
count of the blow he had received from the Frenchman, this 
more humane savage soaked some of the biscuit in water, and 
made him suck the pulp-like part. Determined, however, not 
to lose his captive, the refreshment being finished, he took 
the moccasons from his feet, and tied them to one of his 
wrists ; then directing him to lie down on his back on the 
bare ground, he stretched one arm to its full length, and 
bound it fast to a young tree ; the other arm was extended 
and bound in the same manner : his legs were stretched apart, 
and fastened to two sapplings. Then a number of tall, but 
slender poles were cut down, which, with some long bushes, 
were laid across his body from head to foot : on each side lay 
as many Indians as could conveniently find lodging, in order 
to prevent the possibility of his escape. In this disagreeable 
and painful posture he remained till morning. During the 
night, the longest and most dreary conceivable, our hero used 
to relate that he felt a ray of cheerfulness come casually 
across his mind, and could not even refrain from smiling 
when he reflected on this ludicrous group for a painter, of 
which he himself was the principal figure. 

The next day he was allowed his blanket and moccasons, 
and permitted to march without carrying any pack, or re- 
ceiving any insult. To allay his extreme hunger, a little 
bear's meat was given, which he sucked through his teeth. 
At night the party arrived at Ticonderoga, and the prisoner 
was placed under the care of a French guard. 

The savages, who had been prevented from glutting their 
diabolical thirst for blood, took this opportunity of manifest- 
ing their malevolence for the disappointment, by horrid gri- 
maces and angry gestures,* but they were suffered no more 
to offer violence or personal indignity to him. 



PUTNAM. S95 

After having been examined by the Marquis de Montcalm, 
Major Putnam was conducted to Montreal by a French offi- 
cer, who treated him with the greatest indulgence and hu- 
manity. 

At this place were several prisoners. Colonel Peter Schuy- 
ler, remarkable for his philanthropy, generosity, and friend- 
ship, was of the number. No sooner had he heard of Major 
Putnam's arrival, than he went to the interpreter's quarters, 
and inquired whether he had a Provincial major in his cus- 
tody. He found Major Putnam in a comfortless condition, 
without coat, waistcoat, or hose ; the remnant of his clothing 
miserably dirty and ragged, his beard long and squalid, his 
legs torn by thorns and briers, his face gashed with wounds, 
and swollen with bruises. Colonel Schuyler, irritated beyond 
all sufferance at such a sight, could scarcely restrain his 
speech within limits consistent with the prudence of a priso- 
ner, and the meekness of a Christian. Major Putnam was 
immediately treated according to his rank, clothed in a de- 
cent manner, and supplied with money by this liberal and 
sympathetic patron of the distressed ; and by his assistance 
he was soon after exchanged. 

When general Amherst was marching across the country 
to Canada, the army coming to one of the lakes, which they 
were obliged to pass, found the French had an armed vessel 
of twelve guns upon it. He was in great distress, his boats 
were no match for her; and she alone was capable of sinking 
his whole army in that situation. While he was pondering 
what should be done, Putnam comes to him, and says, "Gen- 
eral, that ship must be taken." '* Aye," says Amherst, "I 
would give the world she was taken." ** Pll take her," says 
Putnam. Amherst smiled, and asked how? "Give me some 
wedges, a beetle, (a large wooden hammer, or maul, used 
for driving wedges.) and a few men of my own choice." Am- 
herst could not conceive how an armed vessel was to be taken 
by four or five men, a beetle and wedges. However, he gran- 
ted Putnam's request. When night came, Putnam, with his 
materials and men, went in a boat under the vessel's stern, 
and in an instant drove in the wedges between the rudder 
and ship, and left her. In the morning, the sails were seen 
fluttering about: she was adrift in the middle of the lake ; and 
being presently blown ashore, was easily taken. 

At the commencement of hostilities between the colonies 
and the mother country, Colonel Putnam, on hearing of the 
battle at Lexington, left his plough in the middle of the field, 
and without changing his clothes, repaired to Cambridge, 
riding in a single day one hundred miles. He was soon ap- 
pointed a major general in the provincial army, and return- 



3% PUTNAM. 

ing to Connecticut, he made no delay in bringing on a body 
of troops. 

Among other examples of patriotism that might he related, 
the following is from a living witness. The day that the re- 
port of the battle of Lexington reached Barnstable, a com- 
pany of militia immediately assembled and marched off to 
Cambridge. In tlie front rank there was a young man, the 
son of a respectable farmer, and his only child. In marching 
from the village, as they passed his house, he came out to 
meet them. There was a momentary halt. The drum and 
fife paused for an instant. The father, suppressing a strong 
and evident emotion, said, *' God be with you all, my friends! 
and John, if you, my son, are called into battle, take care 
that you behave like a man. or else let me never see your face 
again !" A tear started into every eye, and the march w as 
resumed. 

Not long after his appointment, the commander of the Bri- 
tish army, unwilling that so valuable an officer should act in 
opposition, privately conveyed to him a proposal that if he 
would quit the rebel party, he might rely on being made a 
major general in the British establishment, and receiving a 
great pecuniary compensation for his services ; but he spurn- 
ed the offer. On the 16th of June, 1775, it was determined 
in a council of war. at which General Putnam assisted, that 
a fortified post should he established at or near Bunker hill. 
General Putnam marched with the first detachment, and com- 
menced the work : he was the principal agent or engineer 
who traced the lines of the redoubt, and he continued most if 
not all the night with the workmen ; at any rate he was on 
the spot before sun-rising in the morning, and had taken his 
station on the top of Bunker hill, and participated in the 
danger, as well as the glory of that day. 

When the army was organized by general Washington at 
Cambridge, general Putnam was appointed to command the 
reserve. In August, 1776, he was stationed at Brooklyn, on 
Long Island. After the defeat of our army, on the 27th of 
that month, he went to New York, and was very serviceable 
in the city and neighborhood. In October or November, he 
was sent to Philadelphia to fortify that city. In January, 
1777, he was directed to take post at Princeton, where he 
continued until spring. At this place, a sick prisoner, a cap- 
tain, requested that a friend in the British army at Bruns- 
wick, might be sent for, to assist him in making his will. 
Putnam was perplexed. He had but fifty men under his com- 
mand, and did not wish to have his weakness known ; but 
yet he was unwilling to deny the request. He, however, 
sent a flag of truce, and directed the officer to be brought in 
the night. In the evening, lights were placed in all the col- 



PUTNAM. S9? 

lege windows, and in every apartment of the vacant houses* 
throughout the town. The officer, on his return, reported 
that general Putnam's army, could not consist of less than 
four or five-thousand men. In the spring, he was appointed 
to the command of a separate army, in the highlands of New 
York. One Palmer, a lieutenant in the tory new levies, was 
detected in the camp : governor Tyron reclaimed him as a 
British officer, threatening vengeance if he was not restored. 
General Putnam wrote the following pithy reply. 

" Sir — Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's ser- 
vice was taken in my camp as a spy ; he was tried as a spy ; 
he was condemned as a spy ; and he shall he hanged as a spy. 

«< ISRAEL PUTNAM." 

"P. S. Afternoon. He is hanged." 

After the loss of fort Montgomery, the commander in chief 
determined to build another fortification, and he directed ge- 
neral Putnam to fix on a spot. To him belongs the praise of 
having chosen West Point. The campaign of 1779, which 
was principally spent in strengthening the works at this place, 
finished the military career of Putnam. A paralytic affec- 
tion impaired the activity of his body, and he passed the re- 
mainder of his days in retirement, retaining his relish for en- 
joyment, his love of pleasantry, his strength of memory, and 
all the faculties of his mind. 

He died at Brookline, Connecticut, May 29, 1790, aged 
seventy two years. 

PUTNAM, Rufus, was horn in Sutton, in the state of 
Massachusetts. At the age of sixteen, he entered what is called 
the old French war, in 1756. In our revolutionary struggle, 
he took an active and decided part. He commanded a regi- 
ment at the commencement of hostilities, and performed the 
part of an engineer during the greater part of the war. To- 
wards its close, he was appointed a brigadier-general by bre- 
vet. In 1786 — 7, he was engaged hi organizing the Ohio 
Company for the purpose of purchasing and settling lands in 
the Northwest Territory. On the 7th of April, 1788, he, in 
company with about forty others, commenced the first perma- 
nent settlement in the territory, a part of which now com- 
prises the state of Ohio. They located themselves at the 
mcuth of the Muskingum river, and called their village Ma- 
rietta. From so small a beginning he lived to see a flourish- 
ing State, composed of nearly seventy counties, and a popu- 
lation of seven hundred thousand inhabitants. So rapid a 
progress in population, is without parallel in the United 
States. In 1789, President Washington appointed him a 
Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwestern Territory, 
and, in 1791, he was appointed a Brigadier General in the 



393 RAMSAY. 



army of the Uuited States under General Wayne. In 1795, 
he was appointed Surveyor General of the United States, 
which office lie held during a part of the presidency of Gene- 
ral Washington, all of Mr. Adams's, and several years un- 
der President Jefferson. 

He died at Marietta, Ohio, on the 4th of May, 1824, aged 
eighty six years. His soul was pure and unsullied ; a chris- 
tian that carried the mantle of charity ; liberal, generous, and 
hospitable ; with a large share of philanthropy. In a word, 
he was an honour to human nature. 

RAMSAY, David, was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and graduated at Princeton college, New Jersey, 
in the seventeenth year of his age. He studied physic under 
Dr. Thomas Bond, of Philadelphia, and was the fifth who 
obtained the degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia medical 
school, the only institution of the kind then in America. He 
commenced the practice of medicine in Cecil county, Mary- 
land ; but in a short time removed to Charleston, South Ca- 
rolina, where he continued in practice until his death. Du- 
ring the revolutionary war, he espoused, with ardor and abi- 
lity, the cause of his country ; and when Charleston fell in- 
to the hands of the enemy, he was with many other distin- 
guished patriots, transported to St. Augustine, where he suf- 
fered a long and rigorous imprisonment, during which he 
employed himself in historical researches and writings. In 
1782, '83, '85, and '86, he represented South Carolina in the 
Congress of the United States ; and for the last six months of 
that period filled the Presidential chair, in the absence of 
John Hancock. He represented the city of Charleston iu the 
state legislature, for twenty one successive years, for the last 
seven of which he was President of the senate of that state. 
To good natural abilities, and a liberal education, he added 
close application to public business and private studies ; and 
the opportunities which his legislative stations gave him, 
were diligently improved in the collection of official and au- 
thentic materials for the various historical works which he 
was engaged in. The principal of these, were his Universal 
History Americanised : History of America, in three vo- 
lumes : History of the Revolution, in two volumes ; and His- 
tory of South Carolina, in two volumes. Besides these, he 
published many orations and essays on medical and political 
subjects ; and an Historic and Biographic Chart of the Uni- 
ted States. As an historian and physician, he deservedly 
ranks high ; and as a patriot and christian, he was revered 
and esteemed. He was cut off in the midst of his honours 
and usefulness, by a man whose insanity he was called to bear 
testimony to as a physician in a court of justice ; and who. 



. 



RANDOLPH. 399 

in revenge, assassinated him in the street soon after. He lin= 
gered a few days, and died on the 6th of May, 1815. 
° RANDOLPH, Peyton, first President of Congress, de- 
scended from one of the most ancient and respectable fami- 
lies in Virginia, of which colony he was attorney general, as 
early as 1748. In 1756, he formed a company of a hundred 
gentlemen, who engaged as volunteers against the Indians. 
He commanded a company in the regiment commanded by Co- 
lonel Washington. In 1764, he was elected a member of the 
house of burgesses. In 1766, having resigned the office of at- 
torney general, he was chosen speaker of the assembly, to 
the great satisfaction of all classes of his fellow citizens. In 
1769, a new assembly was convened by Lord Botetourt, who 
had lately arrived as governor. This assembly proceeded to 
the immediate consideration of a new grievance which was 
about to fall on the colonics. This was the threatened trans- 
portation to England, for trial, of all persons who might be 
charged with treason in the province of Massachusetts ; a 
measure which had passed both houses of parliament. The 
assembly of Virginia added a decided protest to the measure, 
and a copy of their resolutions was ordered to be sent to the 
colonial assemblies throughout the continent, with a request 
that they would concur therein. The assembly being sudden- 
ly dissolved by the governor, the members convened at a pri- 
vate house, where, having chosen Mr. Randolph as Modera- 
tor, they entered into a non-importation agreement, the arti- 
cles of which were signed by every one present ; among 
whom were Peyton Randolph, George Washington, Thomas 
Jefferson, Patrick Henry, R. C. Nicholas, and many others, 
second to those only in the remembrance of their country. 

Intelligence of the act of parliament, shutting up the port 
of Boston, reached Williamsburg on the 26th of May. The 
house of burgesses, then in session, instantly resolved, that 
the first of June, the day on which the act was to go into 
operation, should be set apart as a day of fasting, humilia- 
tion, and prayer; that the divine interposition might then be 
implored, either to avert the threatening evils of civil war, 
or to give to the people energy and union, to meet them with 
spirit and effect. In the midst of further animated debate, 
the assembly was abruptly dissolved by Lord Dunmore. But 
the members, soon after, met as private citizens, and, their 
late speaker, Mr. Randolph, presiding, they unanimously sign- 
ed an address to their countrymen ; in which, after recom- 
mending to them to abstain from the purchase or use of East 
India commodities, they declare, that the late attack on the 
rights of a sister colony, menaced ruin to the rights of all, 
unless the united wisdom of the whole should be applied ; and 



400 RANDOLPH. 

the committee of correspondence, of which Mr. Randolph wa£ 
chairman, were therefore instructed to communicate with the 
other colonies on the expediency of calling a general congress 
of delegates, to meet annually, for the purpose of deliberating 
on those general measures, which the united interests of Amer- 
ica might from time to time require. It may be necessary to 
remark, that the meeting of the first congress at Philadelphia, 
in the September following, was a consequence of this recom- 
mendation. 

On the first day of August, the convention of deputies elec- 
ted by the several counties of Virginia, assembled at Wil- 
liamsburg, and Peyton Randolph was chosen their chairman. 
The first act of this body was a declaration of the necessity 
of a general congress, in order that redress might be procu- 
red for the much injured province of Massachusetts, and that 
the other provinces might be secured from the ravage and 
ruin of arbitrary taxes. In pursuance of this declaration, on 
the fifth of the same month, they chose seven of their most 
distinguished members, to represent the colony in general 
congress ; among these were Peyton Randolph, George 
Washington, Edmund Pendleton, Richard Henry Lee, and 
Patrick Henry. The convention, however, did not dissolve 
itself, until it had entered into a solemn agreement, which it 
also recommended to the people, not to import British mer- 
chandize or manufactures, nor to import nor even use the 
article of tea ; and in case the American grievances were not 
redressed before the tenth of the next August, to cease the 
exportation of tabacco, or any other article whatever to 
Great Britain. 

On the meeting of the first general congress at Philadel- 
phia, on the fifth day of September, 1774, Peyton Randolph 
was called, by the united voice of the members, to preside 
over their deliberations. The character and proceedings of 
that august and enlightened assembly are so well known to 
the world, that to dwell upon them here would be superfluous. 
It may be permitted, however, to mention a remarkable oc- 
currence which took place on the opening of congress, re 
garding as it does, a personage, respecting whom even tri- 
flos become interesting. It is related, on the authority of the 
venerable Charles Thompson, that, upon the house being 
summoned to prayers, and their chaplain having commenced 
the service, it was perceived, that of all the members present, 
George Washington was the only one who was upon his 
knees. A striking circumstance, certainly, and adding ano- 
ther trait to the character of a man, who seemed destined to 
be, in every situation distinguished from his fellow mortals. 

The severe indisposition of Mr. Randolph obliged him tore- 



ftANDOLPH. 40 i 

tire from the chair on the 22d October of this year, and he 
was succeeded by the honourable Henry Micldleton as presi- 
dent of congress. But his country was not yet to be deprived, 
of his valuable services; on the 20th of March 1775, he ap- 
peared as president of the convention of deputies, convened at 
the town of Richmond, and was again elected a delegate to 
the general congress which was to be held at Philadelphia, 
on the 10th of the following May. But, before he left Vir- 
ginia a second time, he had more than one occasion of display- 
ing the uncommon moderation of his character. About the 
middle of April, the conduct of lord Dunmore, in clandestine- 
ly removing on board a ship of war. the powder of the city, 
together with his violent menaces against Williamsburg, had 
necessarily excited the resentment of the people ; they were 
even upon the point of entering his house in an armed body j 
and nothing, probably, but the timely interference of their 
venerated townsman, Randolph, would have saved the gover- 
nor from their violence. A considerable number of the inha- 
bitants of the upper country had also risen in arms. They 
assembled at Fredericksburg, and had just come to a deci- 
sion to march towards Williamsburg, when Mr. K.ar»dolph 
arrived there on his way to Philadelphia. His ad\ice, joiiid 
by that of his friend Edmund Pendleton, had its usual influ- 
ence, and the volunteer companies, generally, returned to 
their several homes. There was, however, a remarkable ex- 
ception to this acquiescence : a small force, commanded by 
the warm and enthusiastic Patrick Henry, actually proceed- 
ed to within a few miles of Williamsburg ; where their lead- 
er, before he would disband his troops, obtained, from the 
king's receiver general, a bill for the value of the powder in 
question. 

A few days after the meeting of Congress, in May 1775, Oii 
the arrival in America of what was called Lord North's con* 
ciliatory proposition, Mr. Randolph again quitted the chair 
of congress, and repaired to Williamsburg, where Lord Dun- 
more had summoned the house of burgesses to assemble OH 
the first of June, in order that he might lay before them the 
proposition of the British minister. Mr. Randolph resumed 
his situation as speaker of the. house, and, when the answer 
to Lord North was to be given, anxious that its tone and spi- 
rit should be such as to have an effect upon those of the other 
colonies that would follow, and meet the feelings of the body 
he had left, he requested the aid of a younger and more ar- 
dent pen ; and it is to the vigorous conception of Jefferson 
that we owe that bold and masterly production. The opposi- 
tion to it was but feeble, and Mr. Randolph steadily supported 
und carried it through the house, with a few softenings only* 

51 



402 RANDOLPH. 

which it received, in its course, from the more timid mem- 
bers. 

After the adjournment of the house of burgesses, he re- 
turned to the congress, which was still sitting at Philadel- 
phia. It was generally expected that Mr. Hancock, who had 
succeeded him as President, would have resigned the chair 
on his return. Mr. Randolph, however, took his seat as a 
member, and entered readily into all the momentous pro- 
ceedings of that body. But he was "not destined to witness 
the independence of the country he had loved and served so 
faithfully. A stroke of apoplexy deprived him of life on the 
twenty first of October 1775, at the age of fifty two years. 
He had accepted an invitation to dine with other company 
near Philadelphia. He fell from his seat, and immediately 
expired. His corpse was taken to Virginia for interment. 

Peyton Randolph was, indeed, a most excellent man, and 
no one was ever more beloved and respected by his friends. 
In manner, he was, perhaps, somewhat cold and reserved to- 
wards strangers, but of the sweetest affability v\ hen ripened 
into acquaintance ; of attic pleasantry in conversation, and 
always good humoured and conciliatory. He was liberal in 
his expences, but so strictly correct also, that he never found 
himself involved in pecuniary embarrassment. His heart was 
always open to the amiable sensibilities of our nature ; and 
he performed as many good acts as could have been done 
with his fortune, without injuriously impairing his means of 
continuing them. 

As a lawyer, he was well read, and possessed a strong and 
logical mind. His opinions were highly regarded. They 
presented always a learned and sound view of the subject, 
but generally, too, betraying an unwillingness to go into its 
thorough developement. For, being heavy and inert in body, 
he was rather too indolent and careless for business, which 
occasioned hiin to have a smaller portion of it than his abili- 
ties would have otherwise commanded. Indeed, after his ap- 
pointment as attorney general, he did not seem to court, nor 
scarcely to welcome business. It ought, however, to be said 
of him to his honour, that in the discharge of that office he 
considered himself equally charged with the rights of the co- 
lony as with those of the crown : and that, in criminal pro- 
secutions, exaggerating nothing, he aimed only to arrive at 
a candid and just state of the transaction, believing it more 
a duty to save an innocent, than to convict a guilty, man. 

As a politician he was firm in his principles, and steady in 
his opposition to foreign usurpation ; but, with the other 
older members of the assembly, generally yielding the lead 
to the younger; contenting himself with tempering their ex- 



REED. 40S 

Ireme ardour, and so far moderating their pace, as to prevent 
their going too much in advance of public sentiment. He 
presided in the house of burgesses, and subsequently, in the 
general congress, with uncommon dignity ; and, although 
not eloquent, yet when he spoke, his matter was so substan- 
tial, that no man commanded more attention. This, joined 
with the universal knowledge of his worth, gave him a weight 
in the assembly of Virginia, which few ever attained. 

He left no issue, and his fortune was bequeathed to his wi- 
dow, and his nephew, the late Edmund Randolph. 

REED, Joseph, President of the state of Pennsylvania, 
born in the state of New-Jersey, the 27th of August, A. D. 
1741. In the year 1757, at the early age of sixteen, he grad- 
uated with considerable honour, at Princeton college. Hav- 
ing studied the law with Richard Stockton, Esquire, an emi- 
nent counsellor of that place, he visited England and pursu- 
ed his studies in the temple, until the disturbances which first 
broke out in the colonies on the passage of the stamp act. On 
his return to his native country, he commenced the practice 
of the law, and boi'3 a distinguished part in the political com- 
motions of the day. Having married the daughter of Dennis 
De Berdt, an eminent merchant of London, and before the 
American revolution, agent for the province of Massachu- 
setts, he soon after returned to America and practised the law 
with eminent success in the city of Philadelphia. Finding 
that reconciliation with the mother country was not to be ac- 
complished without the sacrifice of honour as well as liberty, 
he became one of the most zealous advocates of independence. 
In 1774, he was appointed one of the committee of corres- 
pondence of Philadelphia, and afterwards president of the 
convention, and, subsequently, member of the continental 
congress. On the formation of the army he resigned a lucra- 
tive practice, which he was enjoying at Philadelphia, and re- 
paired to the camp at Cambridge, where he was appointed 
aid-de-camp and secretary to General Washington ; and al- 
though merely acting as a volunteer, he displayed in this 
campaign, on many occasions, the greatest courage and mili- 
tary ability. At the opening of the campaign in 1776, on the 
promotion of General Gates, he was advanced, at the special 
recommendation of General Washington, to the post of ad- 
jutant-general, and bore an active part in this campaign, his 
local knowledge of the country being eminently useful in the 
affair at Trenton, and at the battle of Princeton : in the course 
of these events, and the constant follower of his fortunes, he 
enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the commander in chief. 
At the end of the year he resigned the office of adjutant-gene- 
ral, and was immediately appointed a general officer, with a 



404 JtEED. 

view to the command of cavalry ; but owing to the difficulty 
of raising troops, and the very detached parties in which they 
were employed, he was prevented from acting in that station. 
He still attended the army, and from the entrance of the Bri- 
tish army into Pennsylvania, till the close of the campaign in 
1777, he was seldom absent. He was engaged at the battle 
of Germantown, and at White Marsh assisted general Potter 
in drawing up the militia. In 1778, he was appointed a mem- 
ber of Congress, and signed the articles of confederation. 
About this time the British commissioners, governor John- 
stone, lord Carlisle, and Mr. Eden, invested with power to 
treat of peace, arrived in America, and governor Johnstone, 
the principal of them, addressed private letters to Henry 
Laurens, Joseph Reed, Francis Dana, and Robert Morris, 
offering them many advantages in case they would lend 
themselves to his views. Private information was communi- 
cated from governor Johnstone to general Reed, that in case 
he would exert his abilities to promote a reconciliation, ten 
thousand pounds sterling, and the most valuable office in the 
colonies, were at his disposal ; to which Mr. Reed made this 
memorable reply : M that he was not worth purchasing ; but 
that, such as he was, the king of Great Britain was not rich 
enough to do it. 9 ' These transactions caused a resolution in 
congress, by which they refused to hold any further commu- 
nication with that commissioner. Governor Johnstone, on 
his return to England, denied, in parliament, ever having 
made such offers ; in consequence of which general Reed pub- 
lished a pamphlet in which the whole transaction was clear- 
ly and satisfactorily proved, and which was extensively cir- 
culated, both in England and America. 

In 1778, he was unanimously elected president of the su- 
preme executive council of the state of Pennsylvania, to 
which office he was elected annually, with equal unanimity, 
for the constitutional period of three years. About this time 
there existed violent parties in the state, and several serious 
commotions occurred, particularly a large armed insurrec- 
tion in the city of Philadelphia, which he suppressed, and 
rescued a number of distinguished citizens from the most im- 
minent danger of their lives at the risk of his own, for which 
he received a vote of thanks from the legislature of the state. 

At the time of the defection of the Pennsylvania line, go- 
vernor Reed exerted himself strenuously to bring back the 
revolters, in which he ultimately succeeded. Amidst the most 
difficult and trying scenes, his administration exhibited the 
most disinterested zeal and firmness of decision. In the civil 
part of his character, his knowledge of the law was very use- 
ful in a new and unsettled government ; so that, although ht 



REED. 405 

found in it no small weakness an<l confusion, he left it at th© 
expiration of his term of office, in as much tranquillity and en- 
ergy as could be expected from the time and circumstances of 
the war. In the year 1781, on the expirat'on of his term of 
office, he returned to the duties of his profession. 

General Reed was very fortunate in his military career, 
for, although he was in almost every engagement in the 
northern and eastern section of the union, during the war, he 
never was wounded ; he had three horses killed under him, 
one at the battle of Brandy wine, one in the skirmish at White 
Marsh, and one at the battle of Monmouth. During the 
whole of the war he enjoyed the confidence and friendship of 
generals Washington, Greene, Wayne, Steuben, la Fayette, 
and many others of the most distinguished characters of the 
revolution, with whom he was in habits of the most confiden- 
tial intercourse and correspondence. The friendship that 
existed between general Reed and general Greene, is parti- 
cularly mentioned by the biographer of general Greene. 
** Among the many inestimable friends who attached them- 
selves to him, during his military career, there was no one 
whom general Greene prized more, or more justly, than the 
late governor Reed, of Pennsylvania. It was before this gen- 
tleman had immortalized himself by his celebrated reply to 
the agent of corruption, that these two distinguished patriots 
had begun to feel for each other, the sympathies of congenial 
souls. Mr. Reed had accompanied general Washington to 
Boston, when he first took command of the American army ; 
where he became acquainted with Greene, and, as was almost 
invariably the case with those who became acquainted with 
him, and had hearts to acknowledge his worth, a friendship 
ensued which lasted with their lives." Had the life of 
general Reed been sufficiently prolonged, he would have dis- 
charged, in a manner worthy of the subject, the debt of na- 
tional gratitude to which the efforts of the biographer of gene- 
ral Greene have been successfully dedicated, who had in 
his possession the outlines of a sketch of the life of general 
Greene by this friend. 

In the year 1784, he again visited England for the sake of 
his health, but his voyage was attended with but little effect 
as in the following year he fell a victim to a disease, most 
probably brought on by the fatigue and exposure to which he 
was constantly subjected. In private life, he was accomplish- 
ed in his manners, pure in his morals, fervent and faithful in 
his attachments. 

On the 5th of March, 1785, in the 43<1 year of his age, too 
soon for his country and his friends, he departed a life, ac- 
tive, useful, and glorious. His remains were interred in the 



406 REVERE— RUSH. 

Presbyterian ground, in Arch street, in the city of Philadel- 
phia, attended by the president and executive council, and the 
speaker and the general assembly of the state. 

REVERE, Paul, was an active and influential patriot at 
the commencement of the revolution, associating with a num- 
ber of mechanics who watched with a vigilant eye every move 
of the British, and promptly communicated intelligence to the 
proper authority. In the evening preceding the 19th of April, 
1775. Colonel Revere was one of the first who discovered 
that a British detachment was ordered on an expedition into 
the country, and with the utmost despatch repaired to Lex- 
ington, spreading the alarm among the militia, and giving 
notice to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, who were then at the 
house of the clergyman in ihat town, that they might escape 
the impending -<htngeT\, Colonel Revere was afterwards 
appointed to command a regiment of artillery in the militia, 
and was on the unfortunate Penobscot expedition in the sum- 
mer of 1779. He was through life, esteemed for unimpeach- 
able integrity, attachment to correct political principles, and 
as a useful citizen. He died in Boston, 1818, in his eighty 
fourth year. 

RUSH, Benjamin, was born the 24th of December, 1745, 
on his father's estate, about twelve miles from the city of 
Philadelphia. His ancestors followed William Penn from 
England to Pennsylvania, in the year 1683. His father died 
while he was yet young. At the age of nine years he was 
placed under the care of his maternal uncle, the Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Finley, an excellent scholar, whose talents and learn- 
ing afterwards elevated him to the presidency of Princeton 
college. At this school young Rush remained five years. At 
the age of fourteen, after completing his course of classical 
studies, he was removed to the college at Princeton, then un- 
der the superintendence of President Davis. At college young 
Rush became distinguished for his talents, his uncommon pro- 
gress in his studies, and especially for his eloquence in pub 
lie speaking. 

In the year 1760, at the early age of fifteen, young Rush 
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The next Succeed- 
ing six years were devoted to the study of medicine, under 
Dr. John Redman, at that time an eminent practitioner in 
the city of Philadelphia. Having, with great fidelity, com- 
pleted his course of medical studies under Dr. Redman, he 
embarked for Europe, and passed two years at the universi- 
ty of Edinburg, attending the lectures of those celebrated 
professors, Dr. Munro, Dr. Gregory, Dr. Cullen, and Dr. 
Black. 

In the spring of 1768. he received the degree of Doctor of 






RUSH. 407 

Medicine. From Edinburg, Dr. Rush proceeded to London, 
where, in attendance upon the hospitals of that city, he made 
many accessions to the stock of knowledge already acquired. 
In the spring of 1769, after visiting Paris, he returned to 
his native country, and immediately commenced the practice 
of physic in the city of Philadelphia, in which he soon be- 
came eminently distinguished. In a few months he was elec- 
ted a professor in the medical school which had been recent- 
ly established by the exertions of Dr. Shippen, Dr. Kuhn, 
Dr. Morgan, and Dr. Bond. 

But Dr. Rush did not confine his attention and pursuits 
either to the practice of medicine, or to the duties of his pro- 
fessorship : his ardent mind did not permit him to be an in- 
active spectator of those important public events which oc- 
curred in the early period of his life. 

The American revolution ; the independence of his coun- 
try ; the establishment of a new constitution of government 
for the United States, and the amelioration of the constitu- 
tion of his own particular state, all successively interested 
his feelings, and induced him to take an active concern in the 
scenes that were passing. He held a seat in the celebrated 
congress of 1776, as a representative of the state of Penn- 
sylvania, and subscribed the ever memorable instrument of 
American independence. In 1777 he was appointed physi- 
cian general of the military hospital for the middle depart- 
ment ; and in the year 1787, he received the additional grati- 
fication and evidence of his country's confidence in his ta- 
lents, his integrity, and his patriotism, by being chosen a 
member of the state convention for the adoption of the fede- 
ral constitution. 

These great events being accomplished, Dr. Rush gradu- 
ally retired from political life, resolved to dedicate the re- 
mainder of his days to the practice of his profession, the per- 
formance of his collegiate duties, and the publication of those 
doctrines and principles in medicine which he considered 
calculated to advance the interests of his favourite science, or 
to diminish the evils of human life. 

In 1789, Dr. Rush was elected the successor of Dr. Mor- 
gan to the chair of the theory and practice of physic. In 
1791, he was appointed to the professorship of the institutes 
of medicine, and clinical practice; and in 1805, upon the 
resignation of Dr. Kuhn, he was chosen to the united pro- 
fessorships of the theory and practice of physic, and of clini- 
cal medicine, which he held the remainder of his life. 

Besides these delegated and official trusts, he took, as a 
member of the community, a very prominent concern in all 
the leading national transactions that occurred from the com- 



408 RUSH. 

mencement of the revolutionary war till the organization of 
our present form of government. Contemporary with this 
latter event was the termination of his political life. He af- 
terwards devoted himself exclusively to his profession, and to 
the discharge of his duties as a private citizen. The only 
appointment he ever held under the federal government, as an 
acknowledgment of all that he had contributed towards its 
establishment, was that of cashier of the mint of the United 
States. 

In addition to those already enumerated, he held many 
other places of honour and confidence, which were conferred 
on him by the suffrages of select associations. He was, for 
many years, one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital, to the interests of which he most faithfully devoted a 
portion of his time. He was president of the American So- 
ciety for the abolition of slavery, vice president of the Phila- 
delphia Bible Society, an early member, and, for a time, 
president of the Philadelphia Medical Society, one of the vie© 
presidents of the American Philosophical Society, and a mem- 
ber of many other learned and benevolent institutions, both 
in America and Europe. 

In private charities and acts of hospitality, in public con- 
tributions for benevolent purposes, and in donations to 
churches, colleges and other useful establishments, Dr. Rush 
was always liberal ; more so, perhaps, during a part of his 
life, than was consistent with his income. But his object was 
to do good, and he recognized no value in money, except 
what arose from the proper employment of it. His charities 
as a physician were also extensive ; for throughout the whole 
of his life, he regularly set apart a portion of his time for 
the rendering of professional services to the poor. Those 
persons in particular, who, in a season of prosperity, had 
employed him as their physician, he never forsook in the hour 
of their adversity, when the hand of penury was heavy on 
their spirits. To their shattered and desponding minds he 
feelingly administered the balm of comfort, while, by his at- 
teution and skill, he removed or alleviated their bodily suf- 
ferings. 

But an hour awaited himself, the severities of which nei- 
ther caution could avert, art countervail, nor all the solici- 
tudes of kindness assuage. In the midst of his honours and 
usefulness, advanced in years, but in the meridian of his 
fame, he died, after a short illness, on the 19th of April, 1813. 
From one extreme of the United States to the other, the event 
was productive of emotions of sorrow. Since the death of 
"Washington, no man, perhaps, in America was better known, 
more sincerely beloved, or held in higher admiration and es- 



SCAMMEL. 409 

teem. Even in Europe the tear of sensibility descended on 
his ashes, and the voice of eulogy was raised to his memory : 
for the man of genius and learning, science and active phi- 
lanthropy, becomes deservedly the favourite of the civilized 
world. 

In enumerating the excellencies of Dr. Rush's character, 
it would be an unjustifiable omission not to mention, that du- 
ring his whole life he was distinguished by a spirit of prac- 
tical piety, and a strict observance of the rites and ordinan- 
ces of the Christian religion. 

His person was above the middle stature, and his figure 
slender but well proportioned. His forehead was prominent, 
his nose arquiline, his eyes blue, and highly animated, and 
previously to the loss of his teeth, his mouth and chin ex- 
pressive and comely. The diameter of his head from front 
to back was uncommonly large. His features combined, be- 
spoke the strength and activity of his intellect. His look 
was fixed, and his whole demeanor thoughtful and grave. 

He was temperate in his diet, neat in his dress, sociable 
in his habits, and a well bred gentleman in his intercourse 
witii the world. In colloquial powers he had but few equals, 
and no one, perhaps, couwr be held his superior. His con- 
Aersation was an Attic repast, which, far from cloying, in- 
vigorated the appetites of those who partook of it. Yet none 
could enjoy it without being conscious of intellectual refresh- 
ment : so ample were his resources, and so felicitous his talent 
for the communication of knowledge. 

SCAMMEL, Alexander, was born in Mendon, Massa-* 
chusetts. He graduated at Harvard college, in 1769, and 
was employed for some time as a teacher of a school, and a 
surveyor of lands. In 1775, he was appointed brigade major, 
and in 1776, colonel of the third battalion of continental 
troops raised in New Hampshire. In 1771, colonel Scammel 
commanded the third regiment of that state, and was wound- 
ed in the desperate battle of Saratoga. In 1780, the levy of 
New Hampshire was reduced to two regiments, when he com- 
manded the first. He was afterwards appointed adjutant ge- 
neral of the American armies, in which oitice he was deser- 
vedly popular, and secured the esteem of the officers of the 
army generally. With this situation he became dissatisfied, 
because it often excused him from those dangers to which 
others were exposed ; and preferring a more active command, 
he was put at the head of a regiment of light infantry. On 
the 30th of September, 1781, at the memorable and successful 
siege of Yorktown, he was officer of the day ; and while re- 
connoitering the situation of the enemy, was surprised by a 
party of their horse: and after being taken prisoner, was 

so 

' - 1 



410 SCHAICK. 

inhumanly wounded by them. He was conveyed to the city 
of Williamsburg, Virginia, where he died October 6, 1781. 

He was an officer of uncommon merit, and of the most 
amiable manners; and was sincerely regretted by all who 
had the pleasure of his acquaintance, and particularly by the 
officers of the American army. The following lines were 
written the day after the capitulation of lord Cornwallis, at 
Yorktown, and placed on the tomb-stone of colonel Scammel : 

" What tho' no angel glanc'd aside the ball, 
Nor allied arms pour'd vengeance for his fall ; 
Brave Scammel's fame, to distant regions known; 
Shall last beyond this monumental stone, 
Which conqu'ring armies (from their toils returned) 
Rear'd to his glory, while his fate they mourn'd." 

SCHAICK, Gosejj Van, a brigadier general in the Uni- 
ted States army, was the son of Sybrant G. Van Schaick, 
Esq. formerly mayor of the city of Albany, and was born in 
the year 1737. In the year 1756, at the early age of nine- 
teen, he entered the British army as a lieutenant under the 
patronage of lord Loudon, his father's friend. He served 
through the remainder of the French war, and rose to the 
rank of lieutenant colonel in 1760. When the revolution- 
ary war commenced, he took sides with his native country. 
A muster of the militia having been made on the east side of 
the Hudson river, opposite the city of Albany, not a person 
was found among them capable of taking command. At this 
emergency, colonel Van Schaick was requested to go over 
and take charge of the drill ; and he particularly distinguish- 
ed himself on that occasion by introducing confidence and re- 
gularity among them. He afterwards commanded the first 
New York regiment in the line. He was at the battle of Mon- 
mouth court house, and in 1779, headed an expedition against 
the Onondaga Indian settlements. With the assistance of 
colonel Willet and major Cochran, the objects were complete- 
ly effected and success rewarded their efforts. The enemy 
were defeated, and the troops returned to fort Schuyler, the 
place of rendezvous, in five days and a half after they had 
left it, performing the arduous service required of them, and 
a march through the wilderness of one hundred and eighty 
miles. For this handsome display of talents as a partisan offi- 
cer, colonel Van Schaick and the officers and soldiers under 
his command, received the thanks of congress. 

The cruelties exercised on the Wyoming and other settle- 
ments attacked by the Indians in the course of the preceding 
campaign, had given a great degree of importance to this ex- 
pedition ; and a deep interest was felt in its success. 



SCHUYLER. 411 

Shortly before his death in 1784, he received a brigadier 
general's commission in the regular line. His own fortune 
was nut a little impaired by the heavy demands made upon it, 
by the necessities of his men, at a time when the supplies were 
scanty an ! irregular. In short he was ever a good citizen, 
a true patriot, and a bra\e soldier. 

SCHUYLER, Philip, a major general in the revolutiona- 
ry war, received this appointment from congress June 19, 
1776. He was directed to proceed immediately from New- 
York to Ticonderoga, to secure the lakes, and to make pre- 
parations for entering Canada. Being taken sick in Septem- 
ber, the command devolved upon general Montgomery. On 
his recovery he devoted himself zealously to the management 
of the affairs in t!ie northern department. The superintend- 
ence of the Indian concerns claimed much of his attention. 
On the approach of Burgoyne in 1777, he made every exertion 
to obstruct his progress ; but the evacuation of Ticonderoga 
by St. Clair, occasioning unreasonable jealousies in regard to 
Schuyler in New England, he was superceded by general Gates 
in August, and congress directed an inquiry to be made into 
his conduct. It was a matter of extreme chagrin to him to 
be recalled at the moment, when he was about to take ground 
and to face the enemy. The patriotism and magnanimity dis- 
played by general Schuyler, on this occasion, does him high 
honour. AM that could have been effected, to impede the pro- 
gress of the British army* had been done already. Bridges 
were broken up ; causeways destroyed ; trees felled in eve- 
ry direction to retard the conveyance of stores and artillery. 
Patrols were employed to give speedy intelligence of every 
movement of the enemy, and detached corps of light troops 
to harrass and keep up perpetual alarm. 

On Gates' arrival, general Schuyler, without the slightest 
indication of ill-humour, resigned his command, communica- 
ted all the intelligence he possessed, and put every interest- 
ing paper into his hands, simply adding, "I have done all 
that could be done as far as the means were in my power, to 
injure the enemy, and to inspire confidence in the soldiers of 
our army, and I flatter myself with some success ; but the 
palm of victory is denied me, and it is left to you, general, to 
reap the fruits of my labours. I will not fail, however, to 
second your views ; and my devotion to my country, will 
cause me with alacrity to obey all your orders." He perform- 
ed his promise, and faithfully did his duty, till the surrender 
of Burgoyne put an end to the contest. 

Another anecdote is recorded to his honour. General Bur- 
goyne, dining with general Gates immediately after the con- 
vention of Saratoga, and general Schuyler named among the 



412 SERGEANT. 

officers presented to him, thought it necessary to apologize for 
the destruction of his elegant mansion a few days before, by 
bis orders. " Make no excuses, General," was the reply, " I 
feel myself more than compensated by the pleasure of meet- 
ing you at this table. " 

SERGEANT, Jonathan Dickenson, a zealous patriot, 
and eminent lawyer, was born at Princeton, in New Jersey, 
in the year 1746. His father was Jonathan Sergeant, a high- 
ly respectable citizen of New Jersey, and his mother was the 
daughter of the reverend Jonathan Dickinson, the first presi- 
dent of Princeton college, whose learned and pious writings 
are extensively known ; and have obtained for his memory 
the high respect due to so enlightened and faithful a servant 
in the cause of religion and letters. The subject of this arti- 
cle studied the law with Richard Stockton, Esq. the elder. 
He began the practice early and with decided success. When 
the resistance commenced to the oppression of Great Britain, 
lie took at once an active and distinguished part in favour of 
the rights of his countrymen, and throughout the whole of the 
arduous struggle which ensued, was a stedfast and resolute 
whig, in the darkest periods, preserving a cheerful confidence, 
and exerting himself with unabated vigour. 

In February, 1776, he was returned a delegate from New 
Jersey to Congress, when he became a faithful and industrious 
member of that illustrious body. He continued in this sta- 
tion throughout the perilous period of 1776, and part of 1777. 
In the month of July of the latter year, he was called by the 
state of Pennsylvania to the office of attorney general of that 
state, which he accepted witli a full sense of the laborious and 
critical nature of the service he was thus required to render, 
but feeling, too, that the cause of the revolution might in some 
measure be considered as turning upon a vigorous exertion 
of judicial authority of Pennsylvania, for it was then a very 
prevalent opinion that her laws against treason could not be 
enforced. On the departure of the British from Philadel- 
phia, he removed to that city with his family, and there re- 
sided until his death. In the distressing period that passed 
during the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, he bore 
a leading and prominent part in the administration of the af- 
fairs of the state, and then became intimately acquainted with 
the leading whigs of Pennsylvania, with whom he delighted, 
dnring the remainder of his life, to maintain the relations of 
political and personal friendship, and in concert with them, 
to devise the measures necessary for strengthening the foun- 
dations of liberty which had been laid in the revolution. 

In 1778, congress having directed a court martial for the 
trial of general St. Clair and other officers, in relation to the 



SERGEANT 415 

evacuation of Ticonderoga, and ordered two counsellors 
learned in the law, to be appointed to assist the judge advo- 
cate in conducting the trial, selected Mr. Sergeant and Mr. 
Patterson, attorney general of New Jersey, to perforin that 
duty. 

In the celebrated controversy between the states of Penn- 
sylvania and Connecticut, concerning the Wyoming lands, 
which was heard and determined in 1782, before a court of 
commissioners, held under the confederation, Mr. Sergeant 
was one of the counsel for the state of Pennsylvania. 

In 1780, the storm of war having passed away, lie resign- 
ed the office of attorney general, ami devoted himself to his 
profession, in which his business was large and lucrative. 
Declining, after the peace, like many of the patriots of 1776, 
to accept of any office, his accpiaintance was courted, and 
his advice and aid were constantly sought by the republi- 
cans who took part in the important transactions of those 
days. 

He continued to enjoy good health in the midst of his friends 
and a numerous family till the pestilence of the yellow fever 
of 1793. visited the city of Philadelphia. Terror, and alarm, 
and. flight, were the effects of the appearance of this appal- 
ling visitor, whose strides were too gigantic and marked, not 
to be perceived. The poor were left destitute, and the chil- 
dren of the poor who fell victims to the disease, were orphans 
indeed. Mr. Sergeant, with a few others, obeying the im- 
pulse of humanity, and facing the danger which every where 
surrounded them, took upon themselves the office of a com- 
mittee of health, and remained to assist the sick, relieve the 
distressed, and provide the helpless orphans with clothing 
and food and shelter, from funds charitably contributed by 
themselves and their fellow citizens. In the performance of 
this interesting and hazardous duty, he fell a victim to the 
fever in the month of October, 1793. He died at the age of 
forty seven. 

As a lawyer, he was distinguished for integrity, learning, 
and industry ; for great promptness, and an uncommonly fine 
natural elocution. As a man, he was kind, generous, and ac- 
tively benevolent ; free from selfishness and timidity, and at 
the same time prudent and just ; maintaining in his house a 
liberal hospitality, without ostentation or display. As a citi- 
zen and a public man, he was ardent, sincere, and indefati- 
gable ; fearless of every consequence of the honest discharge 
of his duty. He* died in the midst of his usefulness, but he 
fell in the cause of humanity ; and the blessings and tears of 
the orphans whom he. had helped to rescue, accompanied his 
departing spirit. 



-2 



414 " ^- SHERMAN. 

SHERMAN, Roger, one of the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born in Newtown, Massachusetts, 
on the 19th of April, 17\l. He received no other education 
than the ordinary country schools in Massachusetts, at that 
period, afforded. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and 
pursued that occupation for some time after he was twenty- 
two years of age. It is recorded of Mr. Sherman that he was 
accustomed to sit at his work with a book before him, devo- 
ting to study every moment that his eyes could he spared from 
the occupation in which he was engaged. In 1743, Mr. Sher- 
man travelled, with his tools, on foot, to New Milford, Con- 
necticut, where he continued to work at his trade for some 
time. 

Several years after this, he applied himself to the study of 
law. and was admitted to the bar in 1734. The next year, he 
was appointed a justice of the peace, and soon after, a repre- 
sentative in the general assembly. In 1761, he removed to 
New- Haven. From this time his reputation was rapidly ris- 
ing and he soon ranked among the first men in the State. 

His knowledge of the human character, his sagacious and 
penetrating mind, his general political views, and his ac- 
curate and just observation of passing events, enabled him on 
the first appearance of serious difficulties between the colo- 
nies and the parent country, to perceive the consequences that 
would follow ; and the probable result of a contest arising 
from a resistance to the exercise of unjust, oppressive and un- 
constitutional acts of authority, over a free people, having 
sufficient intelligence to know their rights, and sufficient spi- 
rit to defend them. Accordingly, at the commencement of the 
contest, he took an active and decided part in favor of the 
colonies, and subsequently in support of the revolution 
and their separation from Great Britain. In 1774, he was 
chosen a member of the first continental congress : and con- 
tinued to be a member except when excluded by the law of 
rotation. He was a member of the illustrious congress of 
1776 ; and was one of the committee that drew up the decla- 
ration of Independence, which was penned by the venerable 
Thomas Jefferson, who was also one of the committee. Af- 
ter the peace, Roger Sherman was a member of the conven- 
tion which formed the constitution of the United States ; and 
he was chosen a representative from this State to the first 
Congress under this constitution. He was removed to the 
Senate in 1791, and remained in this situation until his death, 
July 23, 1793, in the 73d year of his age. The life of Mr. 
Sherman is one among the many examples of the triumph of 
industry over all the obstacles arising from the want of what 
is generally considered as a regular and systematic education. 



SHERMAN. 415 

Yet it deserves consideration, whether a vigorous mind, stim- 
ulated by an ardent thirst of knowledge, left to its own exer- 
tions, unrestrained and unembarrassed, by rules of art, and 
unshackled by systematic regulations, is not capable of pur- 
suing the object of acquiring knowledge more intensely and 
with more success ; of taking a more wide and comprehen- 
sive survey ; of exploring with more penetration the fields of 
science and of forming more just and solid views. Mr. Sher- 
man possessed a powerful mind, and habits of industry which 
no difficulties could discourage and no toil impair. In early 
life, he began to apply himself with unextinguishable zeal to 
the acquisition of knowledge. In this pursuit, although he 
was always actively engaged in business, be spent more hours 
than most of those who are professedly students. In his pro- 
gress, he became extensively acquainted with mathematical 
science, natural philosophy, moral and metaphysical philoso- 
phy, history, logic and theology. As a lawyer and statesman, 
he was very eminent, having a clear, penetrating and vigor- 
ous mind ; and as a patriot, no greater respect can be paid to 
his memory than the fact which has already been noticed, 
that he was a member of the patriotic congress of 1776, which 
declared these colonies to be free and independent. 

The following inscription is recorded upon the tablet which 
covers his tomb : 

" In memory of 

the HON. ROGER SHERMAN, Esq. 

Mayor of the city of New Haven, 

and Senator of the United States. 

He was born at Newtown, in Massachusetts, 

April 19th, 1721, 

And died in New Haven, July 23rd, A. D. 1793, 

aged LXXII. 

Possessed of a strong, clear, penetrating mind, 

and singular perseverance, 

He became the self taught scholar, 

eminent for jurisprudence and policy. 

He was nineteen years an assistant, 

and twenty-three years a judge, of the superior court, 

in high reputation. 

He was a delegate in the first congress, 

Signed the glorious act of Independence, 

and many years displayed superior talents and ability in the 

national legislature. 

He was a member of the general convention, 

approved the federal constitution, 

\nd served his country, with fidelity and honour, in the 

House of representatives. 



416 STARK, 

and in the Senate of the United States. 
He was a man of approved integrity ; 
a cool, discerning Judge ; 
a prudent, sagacious politician ; 
a true, faithful, and firm, patriot. 
He ever adorned 
the profession of Christianity 
which he made in youth ; 
and, distinguished through life 
for public usefulness, 
died in the prospect 
of a blessed immortality." 
STARK, John, was born in Londonderry, New Hamp- 
shire, 28th of August, (old style,) 1728. John removed with 
his father to Derryfield, (now Manchester) about the year 
1736, and settled a mile north of Amoskeig Falls, where he 
was employed occasionally in hunting and husbandry, until 
the 28th day of April 1752 ; when he and three others while 
hunting beaver on Baker's river, were surprised by ten St. 
Francois Indians. He had separated from his companions, 
in order to collect the traps. In the act of taking the last trap, 
he was seized by the Indians, who interrogated him about his 
companions ; but he pointed out a contrary route. He led 
them nearly two miles from the right place, and was pro- 
ceeding, when they heard guns fired, which his comrades 
had commenced, on presumption that he had lost his way. 
The Indians then changed their course, got ahead of the boat, 
and lay in ambush. His comrades having fallen into the am- 
bush, the Indians directed Stark to call for them ; he did so, 
but advised them to escape to the opposite shore, on which 
four of the Indians fired. In this situation he had the temeri- 
ty to snatch away two of their guns, and on the others pre- 
paring to fire, he did the same. One of his comrades, how- 
ever, was killed. The savages beat Stark most severely. He 
and one of his comrades remained prisoners with the Indians 
six weeks, when two gentlemen were sent by Massachusetts 
to redeem prisoners, and they were accordingly redeemed, 
and returned by way of Albany, and arrived at Derryfield in 
August following. Stark paid one hundred and three dollars, 
and his comrade sixty, for their freedom. In the following 
winter the general court of New Hampshire concluded to 
send a party to explore the Coos country. A company was 
enlisted to perform this duty. On their arrival at Concord, 
they applied to Mr. Stark to act as their pilot, who agreed to 
accompany them. They returned on the thirteenth day to 
Concord. In the year 1754, it was understood that the French 
were making a fort at the upper Coos. Captain Powers was 



STARK. 4 If 

sent by the governor of New Hampshire, with thirty men, 
bearing a flag of truce, to demand the reason of making a 
fort there. On his arrival at Concord lie had no pilot, and 
applied to Mr. Stark ; who, ever ready to embark in the most 
hazardous enterprizes, readily accompanied them. He con- 
ducted the party to the upper Coos, and on the same route 
that the Indians had led him captive two years before. They 
found no garrison, and the scout returned after exploring for 
the first time, (by any English adventurer,) the Coos inter- 
vals, the now healthful and flourishing towns of Haverhill 
and New burg. 

On the commencement of the seven years war, in 1755, 
Stark had acquired so much celebrity by these several expe- 
ditions, that the governor appointed him a lieutenant in cap- 
tain Rogers's company, in colonel Blanchard's regiment. 
Rogers possessing the same bold and enterprising spirit, the 
rugged sons of the forest soon ranged themselves under their 
banners, and were ordered to proceed to Coos, and burn the 
intervals, preparatory to building a fort and forming an es- 
tablishment there : but before they reached Coos, a new or- 
der commanded them to join the regiment at Fort Edward, 
by way of Charlestown, No. 4, and Housack, and arrived 
about the time that Sir William Johnson was attacked by the 
French and Indians near Bloody Pond, between Fort Edward 
and Lake George. This campaign passed over without any 
occurrence worthy of remark. In the autumn, the regiment 
was discharged, and lieutenant Stark returned home. 

In the winter of 1756, a project was formed by the British 
commander at Fort Edward, to establish a corps of rangers, 
to counteract the French scouts of Canadians and Indians 
that constantly harrassed the frontiers, and hung on the wings 
of the army. Rogers was appointed captain, and he immedi- 
ately repaired to New Hampshire to engage Stark to be his 
lieutenant, and raise the soldiers. They soon completed their 
quota, and in April following began their march for Fort 
Edward. This campaign nothing of importance was done, 
except that this company was almost constantly on foot, 
watching the motions of the enemy at Tie and Crown Point, 
and preparing themselves for more important services. In 
the autumn of this year the corps was joined by two compa- 
nies commanded by Hobs and Spickman, from Halifax. At 
this time the three companies contained nearly three hundred 
men, and began to be esteemed of considerable consequence. 
In January, 1757, a plan was formed for this corps to march 
to the lake, and intercept the supplies from Crown Point to 
Ticondcroga. They turned Tie, seized a few sleighs, and 
were returning to Fort George, when the party was attacked 



418 STARK, 

about three miles from Tie, by the combined force of French 
and Indians from the garrison, when a most bloody and des- 
perate action ensued. Perhaps, according to numbers enga- 
ged, a more sanguinary battle was not fought during the war. 
In this instance, great prudence and coolness, joined with the 
most obstinate bravery, marked the conduct of the young of- 
ficer. Captain Spickman being killed, and Rogers wounded, 
the command of the retreat devolved on lieutenant Stark, 
who, by his industry and firmness, in the face of* the garrison, 
secured the wounded, and drew off the detachment with such 
order and address, as to keep the enemy at bay. At eight in 
the morning, they arrived at Lake George. The wounded, 
who, during the night march, had kept up their spirits, now 
stiff with cold, fatigue, and loss of blood, could march no 
farther. It became necessary to send notice to Fort George, 
that sleighs might he sent for them : he undertook the task, 
and by fatigue more easily imagined than described, arrived 
at the fort about eight o'clock in the evening ; and the day 
following his companions returned in sleighs. In the new or- 
ganization of the corps, lieutenant Stark was appointed to 
supply the vacancy caused by the death of captain Spickman. 
The garrison had been quiet for some time, when on the 
evening of the sixteenth of March he made his rounds, and 
heard the rangers planning a celebration of the Irish St. 
Patrick's. By one of those eccentricities for which he was 
always remarkable, he commanded the suttler to deliver no 
rum to the rangers without a written order. He then pre- 
tended to be unwell, and lame in his right hand, and could 
make no order. By this circumstance the rangers were kept 
sober ; but the Irish regiment did not forget their ancient 
practice, and the day following took large libations in honor 
of Shelah, that saint's good lady. The French at Tie. know- 
ing the laudable custom of the Hibernians on that festival, 
had planned an attack on the garrison that night, and would 
probably have carried the fort without much difficulty, if 
these sober sentinels and troops had not repulsed them, while 
the others were coining to their senses. The fate of the at- 
tack belongs to history. The British commander in chief, 
sensible of the services of Stark, held him in high estimation 
ever after. From this time to the autumn following, no mili- 
tary movement of any consequence took place, when Lord 
Loudone, the then commander, ordered the rangers to march 
to New York, to be employed on the Halifax station. When 
the order came, captain Stark was on a scout, and did not 
join them till their arrival at New York, at which place he was 
jeized with the small pox of the most malignant kind, and of 
ourse did not embark. Indeed he hardly recovered hfe 



STARK. 419 

strength during the season ; but. as he was en the eve of sail- 
ing for Halifax, the rangers returned, and he again joined 
them at Albany in the month of October, and passed the fol- 
lowing winter at Fort Edward. 

In the year 1758, general Abercrombie commanding the 
British forces, resolved to attempt the reduction of Ticonde- 
roga. The rangers, as usual, were ordered to scour the coun- 
trv, and open the way for the British troops to march up to 
the attack. The evening before this fatal battle he had a long 
conversation with Lorn Howe, resting on a large bear skin, 
(his lordship's camp bed) relative to the mode of attack, and 
the position of the fort. Similarity of character had created 
a strong friendship between them ; they supped together, and 
the last orders were given to the rangers to carry the bridge 
between lake George, and the plains of Tie, at an early hour 
in the morning. According to orders, they advanced, and on 
approaching the bridge. Major Rogers was at their head, and 
saw the Canadians and Indians prepared to dispute the pas- 
sage with them : be halted a few minutes, which naturally 
pushed the rear on the front : not knowing the cause, Stark 
rushed forward to Rogers, and told him it was no time to 
delay* but to run boldly on to the bridge, and the danger 
would soon be over ; the advice was pursued, and in a few 
minutes the enemy fled and left the course clear for the army 
to pass. The. result of the action is well known. His regrets 
for the fate of the brave lord Howe lasted with his life, with 
only the exception of the revolutionary war, when he often 
remarked that he became more reconciled to his fate, lest he 
might have been employed against the United States. 

This disaster closed the campaign. In the winter he was 
permitted to return home on furlough, when he married Eli- 
zabeth Page. In the spring following he joined the army 
undeiyGeneral Amherst, and was present at the reduction of 
Tie and Crown Point. 

By the conquest of Canada in 1759 and 'GO, little more ac- 
tive military services were expected in America. This cir- 
cumstance, added to the death of lord Howe, and the jea- 
lousies of the British officers, induced him to quit the service. 
General Amherst, however, by an official letter, assured him 
of his protection, and that if he should be inclined to re-enter 
the service, he should not lose his rank by retiring. 

From this period until the year 1774, nothing of moment 
in public or private life, roused him to action. In all instan- 
ces of disputes between the king's governors and the people, 
he was uniformly attached to the interests of the latter, and 
became a kind of rallying point for the people in his vicinity 
to exchange ideas and discuss public measures. About this 



420 STARK. 

period he was appointed one of the committee of safety, and 
performed that critical and delicate duty with great firmness 
and moderation ; using all his endeavours to inspire union of 
sentiment, and to he prepared for action in case it became 
necessary. 

On the news of the battle of Lexington, he immediately 
mounted his horse and proceeded to the theatre of action, 
encouraging the volunteers from New Hampshire to rendez- 
vous at Med ford, as the most contiguous and proper place to 
assemble. His military services, and his uniform integrity 
and patriotism, left him no rival in the minds of his neigh- 
bours who had appeared in arms ; and he was hailed their 
colonel and commander, by a unanimous voire. Isaac Wy- 
man was chosen lieutenant colonel, and Andrew M' Clary, 
major. They soon had ten or twelve full companies, and be- 
gan exercising their men with all possible diligence and acti- 
vity. As he had left a considerable farm and numerous fa- 
mily of young children, at about ten minutes notice, with no 
other equipments than a second shirt, he returned home in 
about twenty days, arranged his affairs as well as he could, 
(in two days that he tarried,) and returned to the army for 
the campaign. Soon after joining his regiment he was in- 
structed by general Ward to take a small escort, and examine 
Noddle's island, preparatory to a project to raise some bat- 
teries to annoy the shipping in Boston harbour. He took ma- 
jor M'Clary, and one or two other officers, and crossed on 
to the island from Chelsea. While in the act of examining 
the ground, they discovered a similar detachment of English, 
who had formed a project to cut them off, by seizing their 
boat. Timely vigilance frustrated their plan. After exchang- 
ing a few shots (no damage on the American side, the other 
unknown,) they reached the boat, and safely landed on terra 
firma. Soon after this, the battle of Bunker hill calkd his 
regiment into action, and it is an acknowledged fact, that 
they sustained the repeated attacks of the enemy with a re- 
solution and success that would have done credit to chivalry 
in its most daring and respectable periods. When the fort 
was carried, and retreat became unavoidable, he drew off his 
men in tolerable order, although his soldiers were very un- 
willing to quit their position, as they had repulsed the ene- 
my so often, that they considered themselves completely vic- 
torious. Immediately on the retreat, the lines were laid out 
on Winter hill, and finished with uncommon zeal and enthu- 
siasm. The remainder of the campaign passed over without 
any more fighting. A few abortive projects, and settling the 
rank of the general and field officers, occupied the remainder 
of the season. Towards the close of the year it was deemed 



STAlik. 421 

prudent to re-enlist the army. His exertions in this service 
were equal, and attended with the same success, as his cou- 
rage and prudence in the field. The regiment was soon com- 
pleted. 

On the evacuation of Boston his regiment was ordered to 
New York, where lie assisted in planning and executing the 
defences of that city, until May, when the regiment was or- 
dered to proceed by way of Albany to Canada. He left New 
York, and passing through the New England states, joined 
the army at St, Johns early in June, and soon proceeded to 
the mouth of Sorrel. He opposed the expedition to Three Ri- 
vers as hazardous and imprudent. On the return of the re- 
mains of that expedition, he accompanied his regiment to 
Chamblee, and was very active in rendering assistance to 
the soldiers afflicted with the small pox. After crossing lake 
Champlain, his regiment encamped on Chimney Point, until 
they were ordered to proceed to Ticonderoga. He was op- 
posed to the removal, and got up a memorial in form of a 
protest against the measure ; limits will not allow the rea- 
sons to be given. General Schuyler being of a different opi- 
nion, the army was removed on the sixth or seventh of July. 
It was always his maxim to give his opinion firmly, and then 
obey the orders of the commanding officer. On the morning 
after the arrival of the army at Tie, the Declaration of In- 
dependence was proclaimed to the army with shouts of ap- 
plause. His post was mount Independence, (named on the oc- 
casion,) then a wilderness. General Gates soon joined the 
army, and in the organization he was appointed to command 
a brigade, and to clear and fortify the mount. Towards the 
close of the campaign, Congress appointed several of the 
younger colonels, brigadiers ; against which he protested, on 
the ground of insecurity of rank, and planting the seeds of 
jealousy among the officers. 

On closing the campaign in the north, his regiment was 
ordered to Pennsylvania, and joined general Washington at 
Newton, a few days before the battle of Trenton. He was in- 
structed by general Sullivan to lead the vanguard, and by 
ills promptness contributed his share in that bloodless and 
fortunate coup du main. He was with general Washington 
when he crossed the Delaware, and very active at the battle 
of Princeton, and continued with the general until he had 
established his winter quarters at Morristown. As the en- 
listed term of his regiment had expired, and only a small 
number could be induced to tarry a few weeks longer, he was 
ordered to New Hampshire, to recruit another regiment. 

Early in the month of March he summoned his officers to 
band him a return of their success, which fully equalling his 



422 STARK. 

expectations, he immediately gave notice to the council of 
J\ew Hampshire and general Washington. Early in April 
he went to Exeter, to receive instructions for the campaign, 
and was, for the first time, informed that a new list of pro- 
motions had hecn made, and his name omitted. He easily 
traced the cause to some officers of high rank, and members 
of Congress, who were not pleased with his unbending cha 
racter. He immediately called on the council, waited on ge- 
neral Sullivan and general Poor, explained his motives, 
wished them all possible success, surrendered his commis- 
sion, and returned home without expectation of ever again 
taking the field : in the mean time fitted out all his own fami- 
ly old enough for service, assisted them to join the army, and 
continued his zeal for the national cause as heretofore. From 
this period to the retreat from Ticonderoga he was busily 
engaged in husbandry. 

On that disastrous event New Hampshire was called on to 
recruit and forward men to check the advance of the enemy. 
The council immediately fixed their eyes on colonel Stark, 
and sent an express to notify him and request a conference. 
Ever prompt when his country was in danger, he hastened 
to Exeter, and presented himself to the council. They soon 
communicated their views, urged him to forget what had 
passed, and assume the command. He demanded a few hours 
for consideration, and returned, informed them that he had 
very little confidence in the then commanders of the north, 
and that he did not think that he could be useful with the ar- 
my ; but if they would raise as many men as they could, to 
hang on the Vermont wing and rear of the enemy, with con- 
dition that he should not be amenable to any other officer, and 
only accountable to their body, he would accept the appoint- 
ment, and proceed immediately to the frontiers. They closed 
with the terms, and made out a commission and instructions 
accordingly. He was soon on the ground, and a considerable 
number of drafts and volunteers enabled him to form a small 
army of observation. 

General Gates, who had succeeded to the command of the 
northern army, Slaving learned that this body was encamped 
at Bennington, sent major general Lincoln and suit to assume 
the command, and conduct them to head quarters on North 
river. He presented his letter from general Gates, and his 
instructions, and proposed an immediate march. He was can- 
didly informed of the objections, and wrote a statement to 
general Gates ; he informed general Washington and Con- 
gress, urging reinforcements, as he had been pressed so close 
by Burgoyne as to take post south side of Mohawk river. 
General Lincoln, after tarrying a few days in a private ca- 



STARK. 423 

parity, at Bennington, returned to the main army to consult 
with general Gates, on the critical state of affairs. In the 
mean time Burgoyne (probably apprized of these jarrings) 
detached colonel Baum to beat up their quarters, and destroy 
the force on that wing. General Stark was apprized of the 
advance on the fourteenth of August, and prepared for battle 
on the following morning. The fifteenth proved very rainy 
and prevented the intended attack ; at the same time enabled 
colonel Baum to surround his camp with a log breastwork. 
The weather proving favourable on the sixteenth, the troops 
were in motion at an early hour and advanced to search for 
the enemy. He was found on an eminence forming a kind of 
sodded bluff fronted by the Walloomschauk on the south, 
and a gradual slope to the north and west. His position was 
reconnoitred at about a mile distance, and the plan of attack 
arranged. Two detachments, one to the right and the other 
to the left, were commanded to turn his rear and advance di- 
rectly to the entrenchment or lines, and to reserve their fire 
until they were very near. Fortunately they both arrived at 
their stations almost at the same minute, and by a rapid step 
were at the works so soon that the enemy derived no advan- 
tage from their labour, and were pushed out of the fort with 
only firing a few shots, and driven directly on the reserve, 
who soon decided the battle. The prisoners were collected 
and hurried off as soon as possible. At this critical moment 
information was brought that a reinforcement w as close upon 
them. The large portion of the troops taken to guard the 
prisoners, and the dispersion for refreshments, plunder and 
other purposes, left scarcely any men to resist them. At this 
critical period colonel Warner with a small detachment of his 
regiment, having heard the guns of the first battle, was has- 
tening to support them, and now was directed to advance di- 
rectly and commence an attack while other troops could be 
collected. These troops had been in service from the begin- 
ning of the war, and it was easy for their brave commander 
to bring them into action. They checked the enemy and were 
continually reinforced by small squads until nearly sunset, 
when the enemy gave way at every point, abandoned their 
cannon, and were pursued until dark. Many prisoners were 
taken, but the main body retreated so rapidly, that they es- 
caped by favour of the night. Upon the advance of Burgoyne, 
general Stark approached near the main army at Behmaivs 
heights, and finally entered the camp. On the 18th of Sep- 
tember the term of his troops expired. Great management 
was used to induce them to tarry a month, or even a fort- 
night : as it was seen that a battle must shortly take place, 
and general Gates was strongly impressed with the impor- 



4£4 STARK. 

tance of these victorious troops to his camp ; but all to no 
purpose. They began their march home on the evening of 
the same day, and on the morning of the nineteenth : and his 
service having been performed, he returned with them. No 
appearance was perceived of movements in Burgoync's army 
until they had passed the North river, when it was seen in 
motion ; and this militia had scarcely marched ten miles, 
when the battle began. Some of them turned about ; but 
when the firing ceased, they pursued their march homeward. 
The news of the battle overtook them on the road. General 
Stark passed one night at home, and then proceeded to Exe- 
ter to make report to the council, proclaiming that Bur- 
goyne would certainly be taken if the people would turn out, 
and announced his determination to return immediately. Vo- 
lunteers from all quarters flocked to his standard, and he 
soon joined the army with a more numerous and formidable 
command than before. He was zealous for attacking Bur- 
goyne in his camp, and for that purpose had placed his little 
army in the rear, so as to cut off ail communication by way 
of lake George ; but perhaps capitulation was a more pru- 
dent and equally certain course. 

The war being over in the northern department, he return- 
ed home, exerting all his influence to induce the people to fur- 
nish recruits and supplies for the next campaign. He had 
hardly reached his house when congress ordered him to pre* 
pare a winter expedition for Canada, and to repair to Albany 
without delay to receive further instructions. He was there 
at the appointed time, and then departed to Vermont, New 
Hampshire and Massachusetts, to forward the preparations, 
and return to the general rendezvous at Albany at a given 
time. He performed his part, but congress gave up the pro- 
ject. 

Early in 1778, he was ordered to proceed to Albany and 
assume the command of the northern department. This was 
the most unpleasant of his public services. He had very few 
troops, two extensive frontier rivers to guard, and to cap his 
troubles, he was surrounded with a kind of licensed tories, 
in the midst of spies, peculators and public defaulters. He 
laboured to reform the abuses in the department and succeed- 
ded like most reformers. Those, who were detected, cursed 
him, and their friends complained, and he gladly received 
an order in G< tober from general Washington to join gene- 
ral Gates at Rhode Island, who had previously requested his 
assistance. General Hand succeeded him at Albany, but 
left the command shortly after for the same reasons and with 
the same pleasure. 

On joining general Gates' head quarters at Providence, he 



STARK. 425 

Was ordered to take quarters at East Greenwich, principally 
on account of his popularity with the militia, that he might 
gain better information of the plans of the enemy on Rhode 
Island, and guard against any invasion. Here he continued 
until all opportunity for action was over for the season ; when 
he was ordered to proceed to New Hampshire by way of Bos- 
ton to urge at both places the necessity of recruits and sup- 
plies. 

Early in the spring of 1779, he was ordered back to Pro- 
vidence and instructed by general Gates to examine with 
close attention all the shores and avenues from Providence to 
Point Judith, as well as all the coast on the east side of the 
bay as far as Mount Hope. As there were but few troops on 
the station, more than common vigilance was required to pre- 
vent inroads or plunder and to establish a regular espionage ; 
this being the only instance in which he ever descended to 
that mode of warfare : by this means at the close of autumn 
indications were early discovered of a descent or some other 
movement. He removed his quarters to Point Judith but took 
care not to rest more than one or two nights in a place. Some- 
time in October, the views of the enemy were unmasked, and 
for some days his command was on constant duty. About 
the 8th or 10th of November, the enemy decamped, and ear- 
ly next morning he entered the lower end of Newport and 
took possession of the town. Guards were immediately placed 
in the different streets to prevent plunder or confusion and 
preserve order. At this time general Washington was fear- 
ful that on the arrival of the reinforcement from Newport at 
New York, some attempt might be made on his army, and 
ordered the troops that had blockaded Newport (with the ex- 
ception of a small garrison) immediately to join him in New 
Jersey. No attempt being made by the enemy, about mid win- 
ter general Washington requested him to proceed to New r 

England and back his requisitions for men and supplies 

This duty being discharged, he joined the army at Morris- 
town in the early part of May, and was present on Short 
Hills at the battle of Springfield, but not personally engag- 
ed. Soon after this action general Washington required him 
to proceed with all despatch to Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire, to urge a supply of men, money and provision; 
to muster as many militia as he could by drafts and volunta- 
ry enlistments, and to accompany them to West Point. He 
landed them on the Point, while general Washington and 
suit had passed on to Hartford to confer with count Rocham- 
beau and other French officers a few days previous to Ar- 
nold's desertion, and the day following joined his division 
at Liberty-Pole. New Jersey. In the latter end of September 

54 



jttM 




4£6 STARK. 

he was ordered to relieve the Pennsylvania troops under gene- 
ral St. Clair, which, on Arnold's desertion had been ordered 
there. St. Clair marched his division the next day to Liber- 
ty-Pole. 

About this time general Washington having formed a pro- 
ject to surprise Staten Island, to mask his intentions, order- 
ed general Stark with a detachment of twentj-five hundred 
men, with a large train of waggons and teams to advance near 
York Island and bring off ail the corn and forage to be found, 
and to hover about New York until ordered back. Probably 
the British suspected some masked plan: but, be that as it 
may, they suffered this detachment to pillage the country to 
the very verge of Morrisania and Kingsbridge for several 
days, and then quietly return to West Point and Peekskill 
with their booty. Soon after this the army withdrew from 
Liberty-Po'e and went into winter quarters at West Point, 
New Windsor and Fishkill. Here general Stark was visit- 
ed with a severe fit of sickness, which left him very weak, 
and about the middle of January, i781, he obtained leave to 
return to New Hampshire, with the standing order to press 
for men and supplies. He journeyed by short stages and ar- 
rived at his house still more weak and feeble. His health re- 
turning with the approach of spring, he was ordered to Al- 
bany to take command of the northern department and estab- 
lish his head quarters at Saratoga. 

Some feeble detachments of militia from New York. Mas- 
sachusetts and New Hampshire, were collected to protect the 
northern frontiers. It was soon discovered that the country 
was inundated with spies and traitors; houses robbed (on po- 
litical principles) and inhabitants, non-combatants, carried 
prisoners to Canada. The house of general Schuyler, one 
mile from the capitol of Albany, was attacked, several arti- 
cles stolen, and two or three of his servants and labourers 
carried to Canada. He only saved himself by retreating to 
a chamber, barricading the door that they could not force it, 
and firing through it when it was attempted to be broken. 
The firing raised the military from the city and the maraud- 
ers fled with their prisoners and booty. 

Bad as the country was in 1778, it was infinitely worse in 
1781. Some few days after the military post was established 
at Saratoga, one of these detachments was arrested within 
the lines. A British lieutenant's commission was found on 
the commander. He had been a refugee from that quarter 
and was known. A board of officers, summoned to examine 
the case, pronounced him a spy, and gave their opinion for 
hanging. He was executed the next day. Complaints were 
made by his friends and connexions in and about Albany of 



STEUBEN. 427 

die danger of retaliation. General Washington demanded a 
copy of the proceedings; it was sent and no further notice ta- 
ken of it. The cure of the body politic was radical: none of 
those parties ventured into the country again during the war. 

Immediately after the reduction of Cornwallis, the danger 
of inroads from Canada was dissipated. Stark dismissed 
the militia with thanks for their good conduct; secured the 
public stores, and was ordered to retire by way of Albany, 
with instructions to continue his efforts to raise men, money 
and supplies in New England for the next campaign. 

In 1782, he was afflicted with rheumatisms, and various 
chronical complaints, all the season, and did not join the ar- 
my : his complaints, however, yielded to repose, of which he 
immediately informed general Washington, and was ordered 
to join the army early in April, 1783, at West Point. He 
was on the spot on the day appointed, and received the hear- 
ty thanks of general Washington for his punctuality. He 
aided and encouraged the armv to separate without confu- 
sion, and not tarnish their laurels by any act of resistance or 
usurpation. Soon after this he returned home, and devoted 
the remainder of his patriarchal life to the various duties of 
patriot, friend, neighbour, and Hither to an extensive family. 
His long and useful life terminated on the eighth of May, 1822. 

The neighbouring militia vied with each other for permis- 
sion to render the last honorary duties to the departed pa- 
triot. Captain Eaton's light infantry of Goffstown, was se- 
lected from the numerous applicants, and performed the duty 
with great respect and the most perfect order and discipline. 
At his own request he was interred on his farm, on the bor- 
der of the Merrimack river. 

STEUBEN, Frederick William, a major general in 
the American army, was a Prussian officer, who served many 
years in the armies of the great Frederick, was one of his 
aids, and had held the rank of lieutenant general. He ar- 
rived in New Hampshire from Marseilles in November 1777, 
with strong recommendations to congress. He claimed no 
rank, and only requested permission to render as a volunteer 
what services he could to the American army. He was soon 
appointed to the office of inspector general with the rank of 
major general, and he established a uniform system of ma- 
noeuvres, and by his skill and persevering industry effected, 
during the continuance of the troops at Valley Forge, a most 
important improvement in all ranks of the army. He was 
a volunteer in the action at Monmouth, and commanded in 
the trenches of York town on the day which concluded the 
struggle with Great Britain. 

During his command, lord Cornwallis made his overture 



428 SULLIVAN. 

for capitulation. The proposals were immediately despatch- 
ed to the commander in chief, and the negociation progres- 
sed. The Marquis de la Fayette, whose tour it was next to 
mount guard in the trenches, marched to relieve the Baron, 
who, to his astonishment, refused to be relieved. He inform- 
ed general de la Fayette, that the custom of European war 
was in his favor, and that it was a point of honor which he 
could neither give up for himself, nor deprive his troops of ; 
that the offer to capitulate had been made during his guard, 
and that in the trenches he would remain until the capitula- 
tion was signed or hostilities commenced. The Marquis im- 
mediately galloped to head quarters : general Washington de- 
cided in favor of the Baron to the joy of one, and to the mor- 
tification of the other of those brave and valuable men. The 
Baron remained till the business was finished. After the 
peace the Baron retired to a farm in the vicinity of New York. 
The state of New Jersey had given him a small improved 
farm, and the state of New York gave him a tract of sixteen 
thousand acres of land in the county of Oneida. 

The Baron died at Steubenville, New York, November 28, 
1794, aged sixty one years. He was an accomplished gentle- 
man and a virtuous citizen ; of extensive knowledge and sound 
judgment. 

SULLIVAN, John, a major general in the American army, 
was the eldest son of Mr. Sullivan who came from Ireland, 
and settled in Massachusetts. In 1775, congress appointed 
him a brigadier general, and in the following year, it is be- 
lieved, a major general. He superceded Arnold in the com- 
mand of the army in Canada, June 4, 1776, but was soon 
driven out of that province. Afterwards on the illness of 
Greene he took the command of his division on Long Island. 
In the battle of August the twenty seventh, he was taken pris- 
oner. In a few months, however, he was exchanged ; for when 
Lee was carried off, he took the command of his division in 
New Jersey. On the 22d of August 1777, he planned and 
executed an expedition against Staten Island, for which on 
enquiry into his conduct he received the approbation of the 
court. In September he was engaged in the battle of Bran- 
dy wine, and on the fourth of October in that of Germantown. 
In the winter he was detached to command the troops in 
Rhode Island. In August 1778, he laid siege to Newport, 
then in the hands of the British, with the fullest confidence of 
success ; but being abandoned by the French fleet under D'Es- 
taing, who sailed to Boston, he was obliged to his unutterable 
chagrin, to raise the siege. On the twenty ninth an action 
took place with the pursuing enemy, who were repulsed. On 
the thirtieth with great military skill, he passed over to the 



STEVENS. 429 

continent, without the loss of a single article, and without 
the slightest suspicion on the part of the British of his move- 
ments. In the summer of 1779 he commanded an expedition 
against the six nations of Indians. 

" The bloody tragedy, acted at Wyoming, in 1778, had de- 
termined the commander in chief, in 1779, to employ a large 
detachment from the continental army to penetrate into the 
heart of the Indian country, to chastise the hostile tribes and 
their white associates and adherents, for their cruel aggres- 
sions on the defenceless inhabitants. The command of this 
expedition was committed to major general Sullivan, with ex- 
press orders to destroy their settlements, to ruin their crops, 
and make such thorough devastations, as to render the coun- 
try entirely uninhabitable for the present, and thus to com- 
pel the savages to remove to a greater distance from our fron- 
tiers. General Sullivan had under his command several bri- 
gadiers and a well chosen army, to which were attached a 
number of friendly Indian warriors. With this force he pene- 
trated about ninety miles through a horrid swampy wilder- 
ness and barren mountainous* deserts, to Wyoming, on the 
Susquehanna river, thence by water to Tioga, and possessed 
himself of numerous towns and villages of the savages. Dur- 
ing this hazardous expedition, General Sullivan and his 
army encountered the most complicated obstacles, difficul- 
ties, and hardships ; and requiring the greatest fortitude 
and perseverance to surmount. He explored an extensive 
tract of country, and strictly executed the severe, but neces- 
sary orders he had received. A considerable number of In- 
dians were slain, some were captured, their habitations were 
burnt, and their plantations of corn and vegetables laid waste 
in the most effectual manner. Eighteen villages, a number 
of detached buildings, one hundred and sixty thousand bush- 
els of corn, and those fruits and vegetables, which conduce to 
the comfort and subsistence of man, were utterly destroyed. 
Five weeks were unremittingly employed in this work of de- 
vastation. " On his return from the expedition, he and his 
army received the approbation of congress. 

In about three months from his setting out, general Sullivan 
reached Easton, in Pennsylvania, and soon after rejoined the 
army. 

In the years 1786, 1787, and 1789, general Sullivan was 
president of New Hampshire, in which station by his vigo- 
rous exertions he quelled the spirit of insurrection, which ex- 
hibited itself at the time of the troubles in Massachusetts. He 
died January 23, 1795, aged fifty four years. 

STEVENS, Edward, a distinguished officer in the revo- 
lutionary war, was born in Culpepper county, Virginia. He 



4J0 STEVENS. 

engaged early in the contest for our liberties, nor did he 
sheathe his sword until the achievement of national indepen- 
dence. His military career commenced at the battle of the 
Great Bridge, near Norfolk, Virginia, where he commanded 
a battalion of riflemen. Distinguished on that occasion hy his 
valour and good conduct, he immediately attracted public at- 
tention, as an individual peculiarly fitted for utility in the 
arduous struggles of the revolution. He was shortly after 
appointed to command the tenth Virginia regiment, which, 
being speedily raised, equipped, and organized, colonel Ste- 
vens marched to the north, and came under the immediate 
command of general Washington The first occasion that 
presented itself for the distinction of this regiment, occurred 
at the battle of Brandywine. on the 11th of September, 1777. 
It was here that the gallant exertions of this intrepid officer 
served, in a great measure, to protect the continental army 
from annihilation. Colonel Stevens was not brought into ac- 
tion until the retreat had begun ; he was then charged to co* 
ver the rear, and impede the pursuit of the enemy. With the 
co-operation of a Pennsylvania regiment, Stevens seized an 
advantageous piece of ground on the road, taken by the de- 
feated army, protecting the second and eleventh regiments 
from capture, checking the enemy, and securing the retreat. 
His orders were here gallantly executed, making an impres- 
sion on the hostile army, which induced the British general 
to look to his own safety, and abandon the pursuit. Colonel 
Stevens received, on the succeeding day, the public thanks 
of the commander in chief. The battle of Germantown took 
place in October following, where the tenth Virginia regi- 
ment was alike distinguished by its intrepid courage, which 
again produced for its gallant chief the public acknowledg- 
ments of Washington. 

Colonel Stevens now filled a large space in the hopes of 
his native state : he was called to the command of a brigade; 
and the next theatre presented to his valor was at the battle 
of Camden. In the council of war, immediately preceding 
this action, the memorable reply of brigadier Stevens, (to the 
interrogatory put to the board,) " It is too late to retreat 
now ; we must fight," was made. This answer was follow- 
ed by the order of the American general, without further 
counsel; "Then, gentlemen, repair to your several posts;" 
a decisive evidence of the high confidence reposed by him in 
the discretion and capacity of general Stevens. The issue of 
this affair was unfavorable ; and although the gallantry and 
conduct of Stevens exempted him from all imputations, yet no 
officer felt more deep and mortifying chagrin at the tarnish- 
ed lustre of our arms. He felt so sorely the calamities of the 



STEVENS. 431 

day, that he would have returned from the southern campaign, 
but for the pressing solicitude of general Greene, who, soon 
after assuming command of this department of the continen- 
tal forces, was unwilling to lose the services of an officer so 
distinguished for all those trials of military character which 
produce practical utility. The battle of Guilford Court house 
furnished brigadier Stevens an opportunity of reviving the des- 
pondent hopes of the South, and warding off evils, with which 
he had been unluckily beset at Camden. The North Carolina 
militia formed the first line ; Steven's brigade of Virginia mi- 
litia the second. So soon as the enemy approached the first 
line, within one hundred and forty yards, a scattered fire com- 
menced, when this line threw down their arms, and fled to the 
second with precipitation. Stevens, possessing that happy 
presence of mind so necessary in action to draw benefit even 
from calamity, directed his troops to open their ranks, and 
permit them to pass ; and, to prevent the panic's infecting his 
command, he gave out that they had been ordered to retreat 
upon the first fire. At this battle he took the precaution to 
station a body of picked riflemen forty yards in "the rear of 
his brigade, with positive orders to shoot down the first man 
who attempted to break the ranks or escape. He received here 
a severe wound in the thigh, though he did not quit the field 
until he had rendered great services, and brought off his troops 
in good order : general Greene bestowed on him marked com- 
mendation. The siege of York, and the capture of the Bri- 
tish army under Lord Cornwallis, soon closed the important 
scene of the revolution. It was here that General Stevens 
preserved and increased his well-earned honors. The com- 
mander in chief repeatedly assigned him important duties, 
which called for the best efforts of valor and skill ; these were 
faithfully executed ; and it is confidently asserted, that no of- 
ficer possessed a larger share of his respect and confidence. 
During all this period, he was a zealous patriot in the civil 
department of the government. From the foundation of the 
state constitution, until the year 1790, he was a member of 
the Senate of Virginia ; always useful, esteemed and respec- 
ted. He was at Charlottesville, in the Legislature, when 
Tarleton invaded the commonwealth, and dispersed that bo- 
dy ; his plan was, to arm the citizens, meet Tarleton at the 
river below the village, and fight him. This counsel was not 
executed, and he narrowly escaped capture, by the more ele- 
gant equipment of a person flying a short distance before him. 
The character of general Stevens may be given in a few 
words : No man on earth possessed the cardinal virtues in a 
higher degree ; firm, patient, and deliberative ; with a sound 
judgment, singleness of heart, unblemished and uncorruptt- 



43G THOMAS. 

ble integrity ; honest patriotism, which despised all state 
tricks ; an unbounded and immoveable courage. For the 
sphere of practical utility and public benefit he was well 
fitted : born with little brilliant embellishment, he had all the 
qualities for real and substantial service, without regarding 
the influence of faction and party ; but loving the general 
principles of civil liberty, his feelings were always on the 
side of his country. His heart was the abode of that patriot- 
ism, which, spurning parties, cleaved to the constitution of 
the nation, as a holy ark, which contains at once the evidence 
of our glory, and the charter of our liberties. 

He died at his seat in Culpepper county, Virginia, on the 
17th day of August, 1820. 

THOMAS, John, was a native of Kingston, Massachu- 
setts. He was in military service in former wars against the 
French and Indians, where he acquired a high degree of repu- 
tation. He was among the first to espouse the cause of his 
country in a military capacity, in 1775, and during the siege 
of Boston, and on the heights of Dorchester, he was distin- 
guished as an active, vigilant and brave officer. In March, 
1776, he was promoted by Congress from a brigadier to the 
rank of major general. When Boston was evacuated he was 
sent to Canada to take command of the troops which Montgo- 
mery and Arnold led into that province. On his arrival 
there he found innumerable difficulties to encounter ; the small 
pox frequently breaking out among the troops, and the sol- 
diers being in the practice of inoculating themselves, to the 
great injury of the public service. The general deemed it 
necessary, for the safety of the army, to prohibit the prac- 
tice of inoculating, and not excepting himself from the in- 
junction, he unfortunately received the infection, which pro- 
ved fatal to him, and deprived the public of a valuable gene- 
ral officer. He was held in universal respect and confidence 
as a military character, and his death deeply deplored 
throughout the army. 

A more brave, beloved, and distinguished character, did 
not go into the field : nor was there a man that made a greater 
sacrifice of his own ease, health, and social enjoyments. 

THOMAS. Thomas, took an early and decided part with 
his country in opposing the tyrannical acts of Great Britain. 
He commanded a regiment in the year 1776, and was in the 
battle of Harlsem Heights and at the White Plains. In the 
autumn of that year, the enemy burnt his bouse, and took his 
aged and patriotic father a prisoner to New York ; confined 
him in the Provost, where he died, through their inhuman 
treatment, a martyr to his country. General Thomas was 
an active partisan officer, continually on the alert and harras- 



VARNUM. 433 

sing the enemy on every occasion, until he was taken a pris- 
oner, when his captors stripped off his regimentals, took his 
hat from his head, and in that degraded manner, compelled 
him to march through the streets of New- York. Notwithstand- 
ing this, he found some friends who interceded with the com- 
mander in chief, and he was put on his parole on Long Island. 
After he was exchanged, he did not slacken his zeal in his 
country's cause, hut continued harrassing the enemy, and de- 
fending the peaceahle inhahitants of the country against the 
depredations of the enemy, until peace was proclaimed. Af- 
terwards he was repeatedly elected a member of the legisla- 
ture, and always evinced himself an advocate for the people's 
rights. 

He died at his seat in the town of Harrison, West Chester, 
county, New York, in July, 1824, aged 79. 

VARNUM, Joseph B. was among the earliest patriots of 
the revolution, and sustained important offices connected with 
the army. At the termination of the war, he retired to his 
paternal seat in Dracut, and immediately re-commenced his 
political career ; and, during his long life, was continually 
called by his fellow citizens to fill high civil and military of- 
fices. At his decease he was senior member of the senate, 
and the oldest major general in the commonwealth. In thip 
period, beside militia appointments, he sustained the office of 
representative, senator, and councillor of Massachusetts, 
and representative and senator in the congress of the United 
States ; and for many years filled, with approbation, the ar- 
duous station of speaker of the house of representatives, in 
times of the utmost political excitement. He was a member 
of the convention of Massachusetts which ratified the consti- 
tution of the United States in 1787, and was in the foremost 
ranks of those statesmen who advocated the adoption of that 
instrument, and for their zeal to cement the federal union, 
obtained the name of Federalists. He was also a leading 
member of the late state convention. In all the offices he sus- 
tained, general Varnum exhibited an assiduity which never 
tired, and an integrity above all suspicion. Though of late 
years he differed in some points of political economy from a 
majority of his fellow citizens of the state, it may with truth 
and justice be affirmed, that, at his death, Massachusetts did 
not contain a more honest and independent man. He possess- 
ed a strong mind in a sound body. His decease was sudden. 
He rode out on the day preceding it, hut being indisposed, 
speedily returned, and found his dissolution rapidly approach- 
ing. He called his family and friends around him, acquain- 
ted them with his situation, gave directions that his funeral 
might not be attended with any military or civic parade, ap- 

55 



434 WARD—WARREN. 

pointed his pall-bearers, and closed his eyes in peace the sam* 
evening. He died on the 11th of September, 1821, in the se- 
venty second year of his age. 

He enjoyed in a high degree, and deservedly, the confi- 
dence of his immediate constituents, as is e\inced by their re- 
peated elections of him to represent them in congress, and in 
the general court of Massachusetts, up to the day of his de- 
cease. 

WARD, Aktemas, the first major general in the Ameri- 
can army, was graduated at Harvard college in 1743, and 
was afterwards a representative in the legislature, a member 
of the council, and a justice of the court of common pleas for 
Worcester county, Massachusetts. When the war com- 
menced with Great Britain he was appointed by congress 
first major general, June 17, 1775. After the arrival of Wash- 
ington, in July, when disposition was made of the troops for 
the siege of Boston, the command of the right wing of the ar- 
my at Roxbury was entrusted to general Ward. He resigned 
his commission in April, 1776, though he continued some 
time longer in command at the request of Washington. He 
afterwards devoted himself to the duties of civil life. He was 
a member of congress both before and after the adoption of 
the present constitution. After a long decline, in which he 
exhibited the most exemplary patience, he died at Shrewsbu- 
ry, October 28, 1800, aged seventy three years. He was a man 
of incorruptible integrity. So fixed and unyielding were the 
principles which governed him, that his conscientiousness in 
lesser concerns was by some ascribed to bigotry. 

WARREN, Joseph, a major-general in the American ar- 
my, during the revolutionary war, was born in Roxbury, 
a town which bounds Boston, Massachusetts, in 1740. In 
1755, he entered college, where he sustained the character of 
a youth of talents, fine manners, and of a generous, independ- 
ent deportment, united to great personal courage and perse- 
verance. An anecdote will illustrate his fearlessness and de- 
termination at that age, when character can hardly be said to 
be formed. Several students of Wakrens' class shut them- 
selves in a room to arrange some college affairs, in a way 
which they knew was contrary to his wishes, and barred the 
door so effectually that he could not, without great violence, 
force it ; but he did not give over the attempt of getting among 
them, for perceiving that the window of the room in which 
i hey were assembled was open, and near a spout which ex- 
tended from the roof of the building to the ground, be went to 
the top of the house, slid down the eaves, seized the spout, and 
when he had descended as far as the window, threw himself 
into the chamber among them. At that instant the spout, 



WARREN. 435 

"winch was decayed and very weak, gave way and fell to the 
ground. He looked at it without emotion, said it had served 
his purpose, and hegan to take part in the business. He was 
educated at Harvard college, and received his first degree 
in 1759. Directing his attention to medical studies, he, in a 
few years, became one of the most eminent physicians in Bos- 
ton. But he lived at a period when greater objects claimed 
his attention, than those which related particularly to his 
profession. His country needed his efforts, and his zeal and 
courage would not permit him to shrink from any labours or 
dangers. His eloquence and his talents as a writer, were 
displayed on many occasions, from the year in which the 
stamp act was passed, to the commencement of the war. He 
was a bold politician. While many were wavering with re- 
gard to the measures which should be adopted, he contended 
that every kind of taxation, whether external or internal, was 
tyranny* and ought immediately to be resisted, and be believed 
that America was able to withstand any force that could be 
sent against her. From the year 1768, he was a principal 
member of the secret meeting or caucus in Boston, which had 
great influence on the concerns of the country. With all his 
boldness and decision, and zeal, he was circumspect and wise. 
In this assembly the plans of defence were matured. After 
the destruction of the tea, it was no longer kept a secret. He 
was twice chosen the public orator of the town, on the anni- 
versary of the massacre, and his orations breathed the ener- 
gy of a great and daring mind. It was he, who, on the even- 
ing before tiie battle of Lexington, obtained information of the 
intended expedition against Concord, and at ten o'clock at night 
despatched an express to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, who 
were at Lexington, to warn them of their danger. He him- 
self, on the next day, the memorable 19th of April, was very 
active. It is said in general Heath's memoirs, that a ball took 
off part of his ear-lock. In the confused state of the army, 
which soon assembled at Cambridge, he had vast influence in 
preserving order among the troops. After the departure of 
Hancock to congress, he was chosen president of the provin- 
cial congress in his place. Four days previous to the battle 
of Bunker's or Breed's hill, he received his commission of ma- 
jor-general. When the intrench ments were made upon the 
fatal spot, toencourage the men within the lines, he went down 
from Cambridge and joined them as a volunteer, on the event- 
ful day of the battle, June 17th. Just as the retreat commen- 
ced, a ball struck him on the head, and he died in the trench- 
es, aged thirty five years. He was the first victim of rank 
that fell in the struggle with Great Britain. In the spring 
of 1776, his bones were taken up and entombed iu Boston, on 



436 WARREN. 

which occasion, as he had been grand master of the freema- 
sons in America, a brother mason, and an eloquent orator, 
pronounced a funeral eulogy. 

In this action, the number of Americans engaged amoun- 
ted only to fifteen hundred. The loss of the British, as ac- 
knowledged by general Gage, amounted to one thousand and 
fifty-four. Nineteen commissioned officers were killed, and 
seventy more were wounded. The battle of Quebec, in 1758, 
which gave Great Britain the province of Canada, was not 
so destructive to British officers, as this affair of a slight in- 
trcnchment. the work only of a few hours. 

The Americans lost five pieces of cannon. Their killed 
amounted to one hundred and thirty nine. Their wounded 
and missing to three hundred and fourteen. Thirty of the 
former fell into the hands of the conquerors. They particu- 
larly regretted the death of general Warren. To the purest 
patriotism and most undaunted bravery, he added the virtues 
of domestic life, the eloquence of an accomplished orator, and 
the wisdom of an able statesman. 

Thus was cut off in the flower of his age, this gallant hero, 
loved, lamented, the theme of universal regret : a loss, any 
time deeply, but then, most poignantly felt. Though he did 
not outlive the glories of that great occasion, he had lived long 
enough for fame. It needed no other herald of his actions 
than the simple testimony of the historian, that Warren fell, 
foremost, in the ranks of that war which he had justified by 
his argument, supported by his energy, and signalized by his 
prowess. The monument erected by his fellow citizens, on 
the spot where he poured out his latest breath, commemorates 
at once his achievements and a people's gratitude. Though 
untimely was his fall, and though a cloud of sorrow over- 
spread every countenance at the recital of his fate, yet if the 
love of fame be the noblest passion of the mind, and human 
nature pant for distinction in the martial field, perhaps there 
never was a moment of more unfading glory offered to the 
wishes of the brave, than that which marked the exit of this 
heroic officer. Still, who will not lament that he incautiously 
courted the post of danger, while more important occasions 
required a regard to personal safety. 

Perhaps his fall was useful to his country, as it was glori- 
ous to himself. His death served to adorn the cause for 
which he contended, excited emulation, and gave a pledge of 
perseverance and ultimate success. In the grand sacrifice, 
which a new nation was that day to celebrate in the face 
of the world, to prove their sincerity to Heaven, whose Pro- 
vidence they had invoked, the noblest victim was the most 
suitable sacrifice. 



WASHINGTON. 437 

There are few names in the annals of American patriotism 
more dearly cherished by the brave and good; few that will 
shine with more increasing lustre, as the obscurity of time 
grows darker, than that of general Warren. He will be the 
personal representative of those brave citizens, who with arms 
hastily collected, sprang from their peacable homes to resist 
aggression, and on the plains of Lexington and the heights 
of Charleston, cemented with their blood the foundation of 
American liherty. 

He was endowed with a clear and vigorous understanding, 
a disposition humane and generous; qualities which, graced 
by manners affable and engaging, rendered him the idol of 
the army and of his friends. His powers of speech and rea- 
soning commanded respect. His professional as well as poli- 
tical abilities were of the highest order. He had heen an ac- 
tive volunteer in several skirmishes which had occurred since 
the commencement of hostilities, in all of which he gave strong 
presages of capacity and distinction in the profession of arms. 
But the fond hopes of his country were to be closed in death; 
not, however, until he had sealed with his blood the charter 
of our liberties; nor until he had secured that permanence of 
glory with which we encircle the memory, whilst we cherish 
the name of Warren. 

The battle of Bunker Hill was, in many respects, one of 
the most remarkable conflicts that has moistened the earth 
with human blood. No spirit of prophecy is required to fore- 
tel, that from the consequences with which it is connected, 
and which it may be said to have guarranteed, after ages will 
consider it one of the most interesting of all battles, and that 
it will be hallowed by the gratitude of mankind, as among the 
most precious and beneficent contests ever waged in behalf of 
human rights and human happiness. 

Dr. Warren published an oration in 1772, and another in 
1775, commemorative of the 5th of March, 1770. 

The sword of general Warren, which he held in his hand 
when he fell at Bunker Hill, is now in the possession of the- 
honorable William Davis, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and 
is preserved as a precious relic. It was purchased by an A- 
merican sailor, from the servant of the officer who took th* 
sword from the grasp of the deceased patriot, at Halifax, and 
its identity has been sufficiently established. 

WASHINGTON, George, commander in chief of the A- 
merican army, during the revolutionary war with Great Bri- 
tain, and first president of the United States, was the third 
son of Mr. Augustine Washington, and was born at Bridges 
creek, in the county of Westmoreland, Virginia, February 
22, 1732. His great grand father had emigrated to that place 



43S WASHINGTON. 

from the north of England, about the year \Q57^ Ai the age 
often years, he lost his father, and the patrimonial estate de- 
scended to his elder brother, Mr. Lawrence Washington, who, 
in the year 1740, had been engaged in the expedition against 
Carthagena. In honour of the British admiral, who com- 
manded the fleet employed in that enterprise, the estate was 
called Mount Vernon. At the age of fifteen, agreeably to the 
wishes of his brother, as well as to his own urgent request to 
enter into the British navy, the place of a midshipman in a 
vessel of war, then stationed on the coast of Virginia, was ob- 
tained for him. Every tiling was in readiness for his depar- 
ture, when the fears of a timid and affectionate mother pre- 
vailed upon him to abandon his proposed career on the ocean, 
and were the means of retaining him upon the land, to be the 
future vindicator of his country's rights. All the advantages 
of education which he enjoyed, were derived from a private 
tutor, who instructed him in English literature and the gene- 
ral principles of science, as well as in morality and religion. 
After his disappointment, with regard to entering the navy, 
he devoted much of his time to the study of mathematics ; and 
in the practice of his profession as a surveyor, he had an op- 
portunity of acquiring that information respecting the value 
of vacant lands, which, afterwards, greatly contributed to 
the increase of his private fortune. At the age of nineteen, 
when the militia of Virginia were to be trained for actual 
service, he was appointed an adjutant general, with the rank 
of major. It was for a very short time that he discharged the 
duties of that office. In the year 1753, the plan formed by 
France, for connecting Canada with Louisiana by a line of 
posts, and thus of enclosing the British colonies, and of es- 
tablishing her influence over the numerous tribes of Indians 
on the frontiers, began to be developed. In the prosecution of 
this design, possession had been taken of a tract of land, then 
believed to be within the province of Virginia. Mr. Dinwid- 
die, the lieutenant governor, being determined to remonstrate 
against the proposed encroachment and violation of the trea- 
ties between the two countries, despatched major Washing- 
ton through the wilderness to the Ohio, to deliver a letter to 
the commanding officer of the French, and also to explore 
the country. This trust of danger and fatigue, he executed 
with great ability. He left Williamsburg, October 31, 1753, 
the very day on which he received his commission, and at the 
frontier settlement of the English, engaged guides to conduct 
him over the Alleghany mountains. 

At a place upon the Alleghany called Murdering town, 
they fell in with a hostile Indian who was one of the party 
then lying in wait, and who fired upon them not ten steps 



WASHINGTON. 439 

distant. They took him into custody and kept him until nine 
o'clock, aud then let him go. To avoid the pursuit which 
they presumed would be commenced in the morning, they 
travelled all night. On reaching the Monongahela, they had 
a hard day's work to make a raft with a hatchet. In attempt- 
ing to cross the river to reach a trader's house, they were en- 
closed by masses of ice. In order to stop the raft, major 
Washington put down his setting pole, hut the ice came with 
such force against it, as to jerk him into the water. He saved 
himself by seizing one of the raft logs. With difficulty they 
landed on an island where they passed the night. The cold 
was so severe, that the pilot's hands and feet were frozen. 
The next day they crossed the river upon the ice. Washing- 
ton arrived at Williamsburg, January 16, 1754. His jour- 
nal, which evinced the solidity of his judgment and his forti- 
tude, was published. 

As the French seemed disposed to remain on the Ohio, it 
was determined to raise a regiment of about three hundred men 
to maintain the claims of the British crown. The command 
was given to Mr. Fry ; and major Washington, who was ap- 
pointed lieutenant colonel, marched with two companies ear- 
ly in April, 1754, in advance of the other troops. A few 
miles west of the Great Meadows, he surprised a French en- 
campment in a dark rainy night, and only one man escaped. 
Before the arrival of the two remaining companies, Mr. Fry 
died, and the command devolved on colonel Washington. Be- 
ing joined by two other companies of regular troops from 
South Carolina and New York, after erecting a small stock- 
ade at the Great Meadows, he proceeded towards fort Du 
Quesne, which had been built but a short time, with the in- 
tention of dislodging the French. He had marched only thir- 
teen miles, to the westernmost foot of Laurel Hill, before he 
received information of the approach of the enemy with su- 
perior numbers, and was induced to return to his stockade. 
He began a ditch around it, and called it fort Necessity ; but 
the next day, July 3, he was attacked by fifteen hundred 
men. His own troops were only four hundred in number. 
The action commenced at ten in the morning, and lasted un- 
til dark. A part of the Americans fought within the fort, and 
a part in the ditch filled with mud and water. Colonel Wash- 
ington was himself on the outside of the fort during the whole 
day. The enemy fought under cover of the trees and high 
grass. In the course of the night, articles of capitulation 
were agreed upon. The garrison were allowed to retain their 
arms and baggage, and to march unmolested to the inhabited 
parts of Virginia. The loss of the Americans in killed and 
wounded was supposed to be about a hundred, and that of the 



440 WASHINGTON. 

enemy about two hundred. In a few months afterwards or 
ders were received for settling the rank of the officers, and 
those who were commissioned by the king being directed to 
take rank of the provincial officers, Colonel Washington in- 
dignantly resigned his commission. . 

He now retired to Mount Vernon, that estate by the death 
of his brother, having devolved upon him. But in the spring 
of 1755. he accepted an invitation from general Braddock to 
enter his family as a volunteer aid-de-camp in his expedition 
to the Ohio. He proceeded with him to Will's creek, after- 
wards called fort Cumberland, in April. After the troops 
had marched a few miles from this place, he was seized with 
a raging fever ; but refusing to remain behind, he was con- 
veyed in a covered waggon. By his advice twelve hundred 
men were detached in order to reach fort Du Quesne before an 
expected reinforcement should be received at that place. — 
These disincumbered troops were commanded by Braddock 
himself, and colonel Washington, though still extremely ill, 
insisted upon proceeding with them. After they arrived upon 
the Monongahela he advised the general to employ the rang- 
ing companies of Virginia to scour the woods and prevent am- 
buscades ; but his advice was not followed. On the ninth of 
July, when the army was within seven miles of the fort Du 
Quesne, the enemy commenced a sudden and furious attack, 
being concealed by the woods and grass. Washington was 
the only aid that was unwounded, and on him devolved the 
whole duty of carrying the orders of the commander in chief. 
He was cool and fearless. Though he had two horses shot 
under him, and four balls through his coat, he escaped unhurt, 
while every officer on horseback was either killed or wound- 
ed. Doctor Craik, the physician who attended him in his 
last sickness, was present in this battle, and says, ** I expect- 
ed every moment to see him fall. Nothing but. the superin- 
tending care of Providence could have saved him from the 
fate of all around him." After an action of three hours, the 
troops gave way in all directions, and colonel Washington and 
two others, brought off Braddock, who had been mortally 
wounded. He attempted to rally the retreating troops ; but, 
as he says himself, it was like endeavouring ''to stop the 
wild bears of the mountains." The conduct of the regular 
troops was most cowardly. The enemy were few in numbers 
and had no expectation of victory. In a sermon occasioned 
by this expedition, the reverend Dr. Davies. of Hanover 
county, thus prophetically expressed himself; ''as a re- 
markable instance of patriotism I may point out to the public 
that heroic youth, colonel Washington, whom I cannot but 
hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner. 



WASHINGTON. 441 

for some important service to his country." For this pur- 
pose he was indeed preserved, and at the end of twenty years 
he began to render to his country more important services, 
than the minister of Jesus could have anticipated. From 
1755, to 1759, he commanded a regiment, which was raised 
for the protection of the frontiers. 

In July, 1758, another expedition was undertaken against 
fort Du Quesne, in which Washington commanded the Vir- 
ginia troops. By slow marches they were enabled, on the 
25th of November, to reach fort Du Qnesne, of which peace- 
able possession was taken, as the enemy on the preceding 
night setting it on fire, had abandoned it, and proceeded down 
the Ohio. The works in this place were repaired, and its 
name was changed to that of Fort Pitt. Colonel Washing- 
ton now resigned his commission. 

Soon after his resignation he was married to the widow of 
Mr. Custis, a young lady, to whom he had been for some time 
strongly attached, and who, to a large fortune and a fine per- 
son, added those amiable accomplishments, which fill with si- 
lent felicity the scenes of domestic life. His attention for sev- 
eral years, was principally directed to the management of his 
•"state, which had now become considerable. He was, at this 
period, a respectable member of the legislature of Virginia, 
in which he took a decided part in opposition to the principle 
of taxation, asserted by the British parliament. He also ac- 
ted as a judge of a county court. In 1774, he was elected a 
a member of the first congress, and was placed on all those 
committees, whose duty it was to make arrangements for de- 
fence. In the following year, after the battle of Lexington* 
when it was determined by congress to resort to arms, colo- 
nel Washington was unanimously elected commander in chief 
of the army of the united colonies. All were satisfied as to 
his qualifications, and the delegates from New England were 
particularly pleased with his election, as it would tend to unite 
the southern colonies cordially in the war. He accepted the 
appointment with diffidence, and expressed his intention of 
receiving no compensation for his services, and only a mere 
discharge of his expenses. He immediately repaired to Cam- 
bridge, in the neighbourhood of Boston, where he arrived on 
the 2d of July. He formed the army into three divisions, in 
order, the more effectually, to inclose the enemy, intrusting 
the division at Iioxbury to general Ward, the division on 
Prospect and Winter hills to general Lee, and commanding 
himself the centre at Cambridge. Here he had to struggle 
with great difficulties, with the want of ammunition, clothing, 
and magazines, defect of arms and discipline, and the evils of 
short enlistments ; but instead of vielding to despondence he 

56 * 



442 WASHINGTON. 

bent the whole force of his mind to overcome them. He soon 
made the alarming discovery, that there was only sufficient 
powder on hand to furnish the army with nine cartridges for 
each man. With the greatest caution, to keep this fact a se- 
cret- the utmost exertions were employed to procure a sup- 
ply. A vessel which was despatched to Africa, obtained, in 
exchange for New England ruin, all the gunpowder in the 
British factories ; and in the beginning of winter, captain 
Manly captured an ordnance brig, which furnished the Ameri- 
can army with the precise articles, of which it was in the 
greatest want. In September, general Washington despatch- 
ed Arnold on an expedition against Quebec. In February, 
1776, he proposed to a council of his officers to cross the ice 
and attack the enemy in Boston, but they unanimously disap- 
proved of the daring measure. It was, however, soon resolv- 
ed to take possession of the heights of Dorchester. This was 
done without discovery, on the night of the 4th of March, 
and on the 17th the enemy found it necessary to evacuate the 
town. The recovery of Boston induced congress to pass a 
vote of thanks to general Washington and his brave army. 

In the belief that the efforts of the British would be direct- 
ed towards the Hudson, he hastened the army to New York, 
where he himself arrived on the 14th of April. He made 
every exertion to fortify the city, and attention was paid to 
the forts in the highlands. While he met the most embar- 
rassing difficulties, a plan was formed to assist the enemy in 
seizing his person, and some of his own guards engaged in 
the conspiracy ; but it was discovered, and some who were 
concerned in it were executed. In the beginning of July, ge- 
neral Howe landed his troops at Staten Island : his brother, 
lord Howe, who commanded the fleet, soon arrived ; and as 
both were commissioners for restoring peace to the colonies, 
the latter addressed a letter upon the subject, to " George 
Washington, Esquire ;" but the general refused to receive it, 
as it did not acknowledge the public character w ith which he 
was invested bj congress, in which character only he could 
have any intercoi. -se with his lordship. Another letter was 
sent to " George Washington, &c. &c. &e." This, for the 
same reason, was rejected. After the disastrous battle of 
Brooklyn, on the 27th of August, in which Sterling and Sul- 
livan were taken prisoners, and of which he was only a spec- 
tator, he withdrew the troops from Long Island, and in a few 
days he resolved to withdraw from New York. At Kipp's 
bay, about three miles from the city, some works had been 
thrown up to oppose the enemy : but on their approach, the 
American troops fled with precipitation. Washington rode 
towards the lines, and made every exertion to prevent the 



WASHINGTON. 445 

disgraceful flight. Such was the state of his mind at this mo- 
ment, that he turned his horse towards the advancing enemy, 
apparently with the intention of rushing upon death ; but his 
aids seized the bridle of his horse, and rescued him from de- 
struction. New York was, on the same day. September 1 5th, 
evacuated. In October he retreated to the "White Plains, 
where, on the 28th, a considerable action took place, in winch 
the Americans were overpowered. After the loss of forts Wash- 
ington and Lee, he passed into New Jersey, in November, 
and was pursued by a triumphant and numerous army. His 
army did not amount to three thousand, and it was daily di- 
minishing ; his men, as the winter commenced, were bare- 
footed and almost naked, destitute of tents and of utensils, 
with which to dress their scanty provisions; and every cir- 
cumstance tended to fill the mind with despondence. But ge- 
neral Washington was undismayed and firm. He showed 
himself to his enfeebled army with a serene and unembarras- 
sed countenance, and they were inspired with the resolution 
of their commander. On the 8th of December he was obli- 
ged to cross the Delaware : but he had the precaution to se- 
cure the boats for seventy miles upon the river. While the 
British were waiting for the ice to afford them a passage, as 
his own army had been reinforced by several thousand men, 
he formed the resolution of carrying the cantonments of the 
enemy by surprise. On the night of the 25th of December, he 
crossed the river, nine miles above Trenton, in a storm of 
snow mingled with hail and rain, with about two thousand 
four hundred men. Two other detachments were unable to 
effect a passage. In the morning, precisely at eight o'clock, 
he surprised Trenton, and took one thousand Hessians pri- 
soners, one thousand stand of arms, and six field pieces. 
Twenty of the enemy were killed, and of the Americans, two 
were killed, and two frozen to death ; and one officer and four 
privates wounded. On the same day he recrossed the Dela- 
ware, with the fruits of his enterprise : but in two or three 
days passed again into New Jersey, and concentrated his 
forces, amounting to five thousand, at Trenton. On the ap- 
proach of a superior enemy under Cornwallis, January 2, 
1777, he drew up his men behind Assumpinck creek. He ex- 
pected an attack in the morning, which would probably re- 
sult in a ruinous defeat. At this moment, when it was hazard- 
ous, if not impracticable, to return into Pennsylvania, he 
formed the resolution of getting into the rear of the enemy, 
and thus stop them in their progress towards Philadelphia. 
In the night, he silently decamped, taking a circuitous route 
through Allentown to Princeton. A sudden change of the 
weather to severe cold, rendered the roads favourable for his 



444 WASHINGTON. 

march. About sunrise his van met a British detachment on 
its way to join Cornwallis, and was defeated by it ; but as he 
came up, he exposed himself to every danger, and gained a 
victory. With 300 prisoners he then entered Princeton. Du- 
ring this march many of his soldiers were without shoes, and 
their feet left the marks of blood upon the frozen ground. 
This hardship and their want of repose, induced him to lead 
his army to a place of security on the road to Morristown. 
Cornwallis in the morning broke up his camp, and alarmed 
for his stores at Brunswick, urged the pursuit. Thus the mi- 
litary genius of the American commander, under the blessing 
of divine Providence, rescued Philadelphia from the threaten- 
ed danger, obliged the enemy, who had overspread New Jer- 
sey, to return to the neighbourhood of New York, and revi- 
ved the desponding spirit of his country. Having accomplish- 
ed these objects, he retired to Morristown, where he caused 
his whole army to be inoculated with the small pox, and thus 
was freed from the apprehension of a calamity which might 
impede his operations during the next campaign. 

On the last of May he removed his army to Middlebrook, 
about ten miles from Brunswick, where he fortified himself 
very strongly. An ineffectual attempt was made by sir Wil- 
liam Howe to draw him from his position by marching to- 
wards Philadelphia; but after Howe's return to New York, 
he moved towards the Hudson, in order to defend the passes 
in the mountains, in the expectation that a junction with Bur- 
goyne, who was then upon the lakes, would be attempted. Af- 
ter the British general sailed from New York and entered 
the Chesapeake in August, general Washington marched im- 
mediately for the defence of Philadelphia. On the 11th of 
September he was defeated at Bramlywinc, with the loss of 
nine hundred in killed and wounded. A few days afterwards, 
as he was pursued, he turned upon the enemy, determined up- 
on another engagement; but a heavy rain so damaged the 
arms and ammunition, that he was under the absolute neces- 
sity of again retreating. Philadelphia was entered by Corn- 
wallis on the 26th of September. On the 4th of October the 
American commander made a well planned attack upon the 
British camp at Germantown; but in consequence of the dark- 
ness of the morning, and the imperfect discipline of the troops, 
it terminated in the loss of twelve hundred men in killed, 
wounded and prisoners. In December he went into winter 
quarters at Valley Forge, on the west side of the Schuylkill, 
between twenty and thirty miles from Philadelphia. Here 
his army was in the greatest distress for want of provisions, 
and he was reduced to the necessity of sending out parties to 
Sjgize what they could find. About the same time a combina- 



WASHINGTON. 445 

tion was formed to remove the commander in chief, and to 
appoint in his place general Gates, whose successes of late 
had given him a high reputation. But the name of Wash- 
ington was too dear to the great body of Americans to admit 
of such a change. Notwithstanding the discordant materials, 
of which his army was composed, there was something in his 
character which enabled him to attach both his officers and 
soldiers so strongly to him, that no distress could weaken 
their affection, nor impair the veneration in which he was 
generally held. Without this attachment to him the army 
must have been dissolved. General Conway, who was con- 
cerned in this faction, being wounded in a duel with general 
Cadwalader, and thinking his wound mortal, wrote to gen- 
eral Washington, "you are, in my eyes, the great and good 
man " On the 1st of February, 1778, there were about four 
thousand men in camp unfit for duty for want of clothes. Of 
these scarcely a man had a pair of shoes. The hospitals also 
were filled with the sick. At this time the enemy, if they 
had marched out of their winter quarters, would easily have 
dispersed the American army. The apprehension of the ap- 
proach of a French fleet, inducing the British to concentrate 
their forces, when they evacuated Philadelphia on the 17th 
of June, and marched towards New-York, general Washing- 
ton followed them. Contrary to the advice of a council, he 
engaged in the battle of Monmouth, on the 28th, the result of 
which made an impression favorable to the cause of America. 
He slept in his cloak on the field of battle, intending to renew 
the attack the next morning, but at midnight the British 
marched off in such silence, as not to be discovered. Their 
loss in killed was about three hundred, and that of the Ame- 
ricans sixty-nine. 

As the campaign now closed in the middle states, the Ame- 
rican army went into winter quarters in the neighborhood of 
the highlands upon the Hudson. Thus after the vicissitudes 
of two years both armies were brought back to the point from 
which they set out. During the year 1779, general Washing- 
ton remained in the neighborhood of New York. In Janua- 
ry, 1780. in a winter memorable for its severity, his utmost 
exertions were necessary to save the army from dissolution. 
The soldiers in general submitted with heroic patience to the 
want of provisions and clothes. At one time they eat every 
kind of horse food but hay. Their sufferings at length were 
so great, that in March two of the Connecticut regiments 
mutinied, but the mutiny was suppressed and the ringleaders 
secured. In September the treachery of Arnold was detect- 
ed. In the winter of 1781, such were again the privations of 
the army, that a part of the Pennsylvania line revolted, and 



446 WASHINGTON. 

marched home. Such, however, was still their patriotism., 
that they delivered some British emissaries to general Wayne, 
who hanged them as spies. Committing the defence of the 
posts on the Hudson to general Heath, general Washington 
in August marched with count Rochambeau for the Chesa- 
peak, to co-operate with the French fleet there. The siege 
of Yorktown commenced on the 28th of September, and on 
the 10th of October he reduced Cornwallis to the necessity 
of surrendering with upwards of seven thousand men, to the 
combined armies of America and France. The day after the 
capitulation, he ordered that those who were under arrest, 
should be pardoned, and that divine service in acknowledg- 
ment of the interposition of Providence should be performed 
in all the brigades and divisions. This event filled America 
•with joy, and was the means of terminating the war. 

Few events of importance took place in 1782. On the 25th 
November, 1783, New York was evacuated by the British, 
and he entered it accompanied by governor Clinton and ma- 
ny respectable citizens. On the 19th of April a cessation of 
hostilities was proclaimed. On the 4th of December, he took 
his farewell of his brave comrades in arms. At noon the 
principal officers of the army assembled at Frances' tavern, 
and their beloved commander soon entered the room. His 
emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass 
with wine, he turned to them and said "with a heart full of 
love and gratitude, I now take leave of you ; I most devoutly 
wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy 
as your former ones have been glorious and honourable." 
Having drank, he added, "I cannot come to each of you to 
take my leave, but shall be obliged to you if each of you will 
come and take me by the hand." General Knox, being near- 
est, turned to him. Incapable of utterance, general Wash- 
ington grasped his hand, and embraced him. In the most af- 
fectionate manner he took his leave of each succeeding officer. 
In every eye was the tear of dignified sensibility, and not a 
Avord was articulated to interrupt the silence and tenderness of 
the scene. Ye men who delight in blood, slaves of ambition ! 
When your work of carnage was finished, could you thus part 
■with your companions in crime ? Leaving the room, general 
Washington passed through the light infantry and walked to 
Whitehall, where a barge waited to carry him to Powles' 
Hook. The whole company followed in mute procession with 
dejected countenances. When he entered the barge he turned 
to them, and waving his hat bade thein a silent adieu, receiv- 
ing from them the same last affectionate compliment. On 
the 23d of December he resigned his commission to congress, 
then assembled at Annapolis. Here the expressions of the 



WASHINGTON.' 447 

gratitude of his countrymen in affectionate addresses, poured 
in upon him, and he received every testimony of respect and 
veneration. 

In 1787, he was persuaded to take a seat in the convention 
which formed the present constitution of the United States. 
In 1789, he was unanimously elected president of the United 
States. In April he left Mount Vernon to proceed to New 
York, and to enter on the duties of his office. He every where 
received testimonies of respect and love. On the ISth of 
April he arrived at New York, and he was inaugurated first 
president of the United States. At the close of his first term 
of four years, he prepared a valedictory address to the Ameri- 
can people, anxious to return again to the scenes of domes- 
tic life ; but the earnest entreaties of his friends, and the pe- 
culiar situation of his country, induced him to be a candidate 
for a second election. At the expiration of his second term, 
he determined irrevocably to withdraw to the shades of pri- 
vate life. He published in September, 1796, his farewell ad- 
dress to the people of the United States, which ought to be 
engraven upon the hearts of his countrymen. 

He then retired to Mount Vernon, giving to the world an 
example, most humiliating to its emperors and kings ; the ex- 
ample of a man, voluntarily disrobing himself of the highest 
authority, and returning to private life, with a character, 
having upon it no stain of ambition, of covetousness, of pro- 
fusion, of luxury, of oppression, or of injustice. 

In 1798, an army was raised, and he was appointed com- 
mander in chief. 

On the 13th of December, 1799, while attending to some 
improvements upon his estate, he was exposed to a light rain, 
which wetted his neck and hair. Unapprehensive of danger, 
he passed the afternoon in his usual manner, but at night he 
was seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe. 
The disease commenced with a violent ague, accompanied 
with some pain, and a sense of stricture in the throat, a 
cough, and a difficult deglutition, which was soon succeeded 
by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration. About twelve 
or fourteen ounces of blood were taken from him. In the morn- 
ing, his family physician, doctor Craik, was sent for ; but the 
utmost exertions of medical skill were applied in vain. To 
his friend and physician who sat on his bed, and took his 
head in his lap, he said, with difficulty, " Doctor, I am dy- 
ing, and have been dying for a long time ; but I am not afraid 
to die." Respiration became more and more protracted and 
imperfect, until half past eleven on Saturday night, when, 
retaining the full possession of his intellect, he expired with- 
out a struggle. Thus, on the 14th of December, 1799, in the 



448 WASHINGTON. 

sixty eighth year of his age, died the father of his country, 
" them an first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of 
his fellow citizens." This event spread a gloom over the 
country, and the tears of America proclaimed the services 
and virtues of the hero and sage, and exhibited a people not 
insensible to his worth. 

General Washington was rather above the common stature ; 
his frame was robust, and his constitution vigorous. His ex- 
terior created in the beholder the idea of strength united with 
manly gracefulness. His eyes were of a grey colour, and his 
complexion light. His manners were rather reserved than 
free. His person and whole deportment exhibited an unaf- 
fected and indescribable dignity, unmingled with haughtiness, 
of which all who approached him were sensible. The attach- 
ment of those who possessed his friendship was ardent, but al- 
ways respectful. His temper was humane, benevolent, and 
conciliatory ; but there was a quickness in his sensibility to 
any tiling apparently offensive, which experience had taught 
him to watch and correct. 

He conducted the war with that consummate prudence and 
wisdom, which the situation of his country and the state of his 
army demanded. He also possessed a firmness of resolution, 
which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. 

WASHINGTON, William, lieutenant colonel comman- 
dant of a continental regiment of dragoons during the revo- 
lutionary war, was the eldest son of Baily Washington, Esq. 
of Stafford county, in the state of Virginia. 

First among the youth of Virginia who hastened to the 
standard of his country, on the rupture between Great Bri- 
tain and her colonies, he was appointed to the command of a 
company of infantry in the third regiment of the Virginia 
line, commanded by colonel, afterwards brigadier general, 
Mercer. In no corps in our service was the substantial 
knowledge of the profession of arms more likely to be acquired. 

Here Washington learnt the rudiments of war. He fought 
with this gallant regiment at York Island, and on the retreat 
through New Jersey, sharing with distinguished applause in 
that disastrous period, its difficulties, its dangers and its glo 
ry. When afterwards the commander in chief struck at co- 
lonel Ralle, stationed with a body of Hessians in Trenton, 
captain Washington was attached to the van of one of the as- 
sailing columns, and in that daring and well executed enter- 
prise received a musket ball through his hand, bravely lead- 
ing on his company against the arraying enemy. 

The commander in chief having experienced the extreme 
difficulties to which he had been exposed during the prece- 
ding campaign, by his want of cavalry, v as, shortly after this 



WASHINGTON. 449 

period, in consequence of his suggestions to congress, author- 
ised to raise three regiments of light dragoons. To the com- 
mand of one of these he appointed lieutenant colonel Baylor 
one of his aid-de-camps. To this regiment captain Washing- 
ton was transferred with the rank of major, and returned to 
Virginia for the purpose of assisting in recruiting the regiment. 

As soon as the corps was completed, Baylor joined the 
main army ; his regiment was, in 1778, surprised by a detach- 
ment of the British, led by major general Gray, and suffered 
extremely. Washington fortunately escaped ; and in the 
course of the succeeding year, or early in 1780, he was de- 
tached with the remains of Bland's, Baylor's, and Moylan's 
regiments of horse, to the army of major general Lincoln, in 
South Carolina, where he was constantly employed with the 
light troops, and experienced, with some flashes of fortune, 
two severe blows : first at Monk's Corner, where he comman- 
ded our horse, and last at Leneau's ferry, when he was se- 
cond to lieutenant colonel White, of Moylan's regiment. 
These repeated disasters so reduced our calvary, that White 
and Washington retired from the field and repaired to the 
northern confines of North Carolina for the purpose of repair- 
ing their heavy losses. It was here that they applied to ge- 
neral Gates for the aid of his name and authority to expedite 
the restoration and equipment of their regiments, that they 
might be ready to take the field under his orders. This salu- 
tary and proper request was injudiciously disregarded : from 
which omission very injurious consequences seem to have re- 
sulted in the sequel. 

After the defeat of general Gates on the sixteenth of the fol- 
lowing August, it will be recollected that the American ge- 
neral retired to Hillsborough, from whence he returned to 
Salisbury. 

Lieutenant colonel Washington, with his cavalry, now ac- 
companied him, and formed a part of the light corps placed 
by Gates under the direction of brigadier Morgan. He re- 
sumed his accustomed active and vigorous service, and was 
in the execution of the trust confided to Morgan. 

During this period he carried, by an extraordinary strata- 
gem, the post at Rudgley's which drew from lord Cornwallis 
the following letter to lieuteuant colonel Tarleton. " Rudg- 
ley will not be made a brigadier. He surrendered, without 
firing a shot, himself and one hundred and three rank and file, 
to the cavalry only. A deserter of Morgan's assures us that 
the infantry never came within three miles of the house." 

Greene now succeeded Gates, when brigadier Morgan, with 
the light corps, was detached to hang upon the enemy's left 
flank, and to threaten Ninety-Six. 

57 



450 WASHINGTON. 

The battle of the Cowpens ensued, in which Washington, 
at the bead of our horse, acquired fresh laurels. He contin- 
ued with the light corps? performing with courage and preci- 
sion the duties assigned him until the junction of the two di- 
visions of the American army at Guilford court-house. Soon 
after this event a more powerful body of horse and foot was 
selected by general Greene, and placed under colonel Wil- 
liams of which Washington and his cavalry were a constitu- 
ent part. 

In the eventful and trying retreat which ensued, lieutenant 
colonel Washington contributed his full share to the mainte- 
nance of the measures of Williams, which terminated so pro- 
pitiously to our arms, and so honourably to the light troops 
and their commander. After our repassage of the Dan, 
Washington and his horse were again placed in the van, and 
with Howard and Lee, led by Williams, played that arduous 
game of marches, countermarches, and manoeuvres, which 
greatly contributed to baffle the skilful display of talents and 
enterprise, exhibited by lord Cornwallis in his persevering 
attempt to force Greene, at the head of an inferior army, to 
battle, or to cut him off from his approaching reinforcements 
and approaching supplies. 

Colonel Washington acted a very distinguiscd part in the 
battles of Guilford, Hobkkk's Hill and Eutaws ; and through- 
out the arduous campaign of 1781 ; always at his post, deci- 
ded, firm and brave, courting danger, and contemning difficul- 
ty. His eminent services were lost to the army from the battle 
of the Eutaws, where, to its great regret, lie w as made prison- 
er : nor did he afterwards take any part in the war, as from 
the period of his exchange nothing material occurred, the re- 
spective armies being confined to minor operations, produced 
by the prospect of peace. While a prisoner in Charleston, 
Washington became acquainted with Miss Elliott, a young 
lady in whom concentred the united attractions of respecta- 
ble descent, opulence, polish, and beauty. The gallant sol- 
dier soon became enamored with his amiable acquaintance, 
and afterwards married her. This happened in the spring of 
1782 : and he established himself in South Carolina at Sandy 
Hill, the ancestral seat of his wife. 

Washington seems to have devoted his subsequent years to 
domestic duties, rarely breaking in upon them by attention to 
public affairs, and then only as a member of the state legis- 
lature. He possessed a stout frame, being six feet in height, 
broad, strong, and corpulent. His occupations and his amuse- 
ments applied to the body, rather than to the mind, to the 
cultivation of which he did not bestow much time or applica- 
lion ; nor was his education of the sort to excite such habits-. 



WAYNE. 451 

being only calculated to fit a man for the common business of 
life. In temper he was good humoured, in disposition amia- 
ble, in heart upright, generous, and friendly ; in manners 
lively, innocent, and agreeable. 

His military exploits announce his grade and character in 
arms. Bold, collected, and persevering, he preferred the 
heat of action to the collection and sifting of intelligence, to 
the calculations and combinations of means and measures, 
and was better fitted for the field of battle, than for the drudge- 
ry of camp, and the watchfulness of preparation. Kind to his 
soldiers, his system of discipline was rather lax, and some- 
times subjected him to injurious consequences, when close to 
a sagacious and vigilant adversary. 

Lieutenant colonel Washington was selected by his illustri- 
ous relation when he accepted the command of the army dur- 
ing the presidency of Mr. Adams as one of his staff, with the 
rank of brigadier general, a decided proof of the high value 
attached by the best judge in America to his military talents. 

Leading a life of honor, of benevolence and hospitality, in 
the bosom of his family and friends, during which, until its 
last two years, he enjoyed high health, this gallant soldier 
died, after a tedious indisposition, leaving a widow, and a son 
and a daughter, the only issue of his marriage. 

WAYNE, Anthony, a major-general in the American ar- 
my, occupies a conspicuous station among the heroes and pat- 
riots of the American revolution. He was born in the year 
1745, in Chester county, in the state, then colony of Penn- 
sylvania. His father, who was a respectable farmer, was 
many years a representative for the county of Chester, in the 
general assembly, before the revolution. His grandfather, 
who was distinguished for his attachment to the principles of 
liberty, bore a captain's commission under king William, at 
the battle of the Boyne. Anthony Wayne succeeded his fath- 
er as a representative for the county of Chester, in the year 
177S ; and from his first appearance in public life, distinguish- 
ed himself as a firm and decided patriot. He opposed, with 
much ability, the unjust demands of the mother country, and 
in connexion with some gentlemen of distinguished talents, 
was of material service in preparing the way for the firm 
and decisive part which Pennsylvania took in the general con- 
test. 

In 1775, he was appointed to the command of a regiment, 
which his character enabled him to raise in a few weeks, in 
his native county. In the same year, he was detached under 
general Thompson into Canada. In the defeat which follow- 
ed, in which general Thompson was made prisoner, colonel 
Wayne, though wounded, displayed great gallantry and good 



452 WAYNE. 

conduct, in collecting and bringing off, the scattered and bro 
ken bodies of troops. 

In the campaign of 1776, he served under general Gates, 
at Ticonderoga, and was highly esteemed by that officer for 
both his bravery and skill as an engineer. At the close of that 
campaign he was created a brigadier general. 

At the battle of Brandy wine, he behaved with his usual bra- 
yery, and for a long time opposed the progress of the enemy 
at Chad's ford. In this action, the inferiority of the Amer- 
icans in numbers, discipline and arms, gave them little chance 
of success; but the peculiar situation of the public mind was 
supposed to require a battle to be risked ; the ground was 
bravely disputed, and the action was not considered as deci- 
sive. The spirits of the troops were preserved by a belief 
that the loss of the enemy had equalled their own. As it was 
the intention of the American commander in chief to hazard 
another action on the first favorable opportunity that should 
offer, general Wayne was detached with his division, to har- 
rass the enemy by every means in his power. The British 
troops were encamped at Tredyffrin, and general Wayne was 
stationed about three miles in the rear of their left wing near 
the Paoli tavern, and from the precautions he had taken, he 
considered himself secure; but about eleven o'clock, on the 
night of the 20th September, major general Gray, having 
driven in his pickets, suddenly attacked him with fixed bayo- 
nets. Wayne, unable to withstand the superior number of 
his assailants, was obliged to retreat; but formed again at a 
small distance, having lost about 150 killed and wounded. As 
blame was attached, by some of the officers of the army, to 
general Wayne, for allowing himself to be surprised in this 
manner, he demanded a court martial, which after examining 
the necessary evidence, declared that he had done every thing 
to be expected from an activ e, brave, and vigilant officer ; and 
acquitted him with honour. 

A neat marble monument has been recently erected on the 
battle ground, to the memory of the gallant men who fell on 
the night of the 20th September. 1777. 

Shortly after was fought the battle of Germantown. in which 
he greatly signalized himself by his spirited manner of lead- 
ing his men into action. In this action, he had one horse shot 
under him, and another as he was mounting ; and at the same 
instant, received slight wounds in the left foot and left 
hand. 

In all councils of war, general Wayne was distinguished for 
supporting the most energetic and decisive measures. In the 
one previous to the battle of Monmouth, he and general Cad* 
walader were the only officers decidedly in favour of attack- 



WAYNE. 453 

ing the British army. The American officers are said to have 
been influenced by the opinions of the Europeans. The baron 
de Steuben, and generals Lee and Du Portail, whose milita- 
ry skill was in high estimation, had warmly opposed an en- 
gagement, as too hazardous : but general Washington, whose 
opinion was in favour of an engagement, made such disposi- 
tion as would be most likely to lead to it. In that action, so 
honourable to the American arms, general Wayne was con- 
spicuous in the ardour of his attack. General Washington, 
in his letter to congress, observes, 4 * Were I to conclude my 
account of this day's transactions without expressing my ob- 
ligations to the officers of the army in general, I should do 
injustice to their merit, and violence to my own feelings. 
They seemed to vie with each other in manifesting their zeal 
and bravery. The catalogue of those who distinguished them- 
selves, is too long to admit of particularizing individuals : 
I cannot, however, forbear mentioning brigadier general 
Wayne, whose good conduct and bravery throughout the 
whole action, deserves particular commendation." 

In July, 1779, the American commander in chief having 
conceived a design of attacking the strong post of Stony 
Point, committed the charge of this enterprise to general 
Wayne. The garrison was composed of six hundred men, 
principally highlanders, commanded by lieutenant colonel 
Johnson. Stony Point is a considerable height, the base of 
which, on the one side, is washed by the Hudson river, and 
on the other is covered by a morass, over which there is but 
one crossing place. On the top of this hill was the fort : for- 
midable batteries of heavy artillery were planted on it, in 
front of which, breast-works were advanced, and half way 
down was a double row of abattis. The batteries commanded 
the beach and the crossing place of the morass. Several ves- 
sels of war were also in the river, whose guns commanded 
the foot of the hill. At noon, on the 15th of July, general 
Wayne inarched from Sandy Beach, and arrived at eight 
o'clock in the evening, within a mile and a half of the fort, 
where he made the necessary disposition for the assault. Af- 
ter reconnoitering the situation of the enemy, at half past ele- 
ven, he led his troops with unloaded muskets and fixed bayo- 
nets, and without firing a single gun, completely carried the 
fort, and made the garrison, amounting to five hundred and 
forty three, (the rest being killed,) prisoners. In the attack, 
while at the head of Fcbiger's regiment, general Wayne re- 
ceived a wound in the head with a musket-ball, which in the 
heat of the conflict, supposing mortal, and anxious to expire 
in the lap of glory, he called to his aids to carry him forward 
aid let him die in the fort. The resistance, on the part of 



454 WAYNE. 

the garrison was very spirited. Out of the forlorn hope of 
twenty men, commanded by lieutenant Gibbon, whose busi- 
ness it was to remove the abattis, seventeen were killed or 
wounded. For the brave, prudent, and soldier-like conduct 
displayed in this achievement, the congress presented general 
Wayne a gold medal emblematic of the action. 

The following letters and documents will set forth more 
distinctly the nature of this enterprise. 

General Orders for the Attack. 

The troops will march at o'clock, and move by the 

right, making a short halt at the creek, or run on this side, 
next Clement's : every officer and non-commissioned officer 
will remain with, and be answerable for every man in his 
platoon ; no soldier to be permitted to quit his ranks on any 
pretext whatever, until a general halt is made, and then to 
be attended by one of the officers of the platoon. 

When the head of the troops arrive in the rear of the hill, 
colonel Febiger will form his regiment into a solid column of 
a half platoon in front, as fast as they come up. Colonel 
Meigs will form next in colonel Febiger's rear, and major 
Hull in the rear of Meigs, which will form the right column. 

Colonel Butler will form a column on the left of Febiger, 
and major Murphy in his rear. Every officer and soldier will 
then fix a piece of white paper in the most conspicuous part 
of his hat or cap, as a mark to distinguish them from the ene- 
my. At the word inarch, colonel Flcury will take charge of 
one hundred and fifty determined and picked men, properly 
officered, with arms unloaded, placing their whole depen- 
dence on fixed bayonets, who will move about twenty paces 
in front of the right column, and enter the sally-port ; he is 
to detach an officer and twenty men a little in front, whose 
business will be to secure the sentries, and remove the abattis 
and obstructions for the column to pass through. The column 
will follow close in the rear with shouldered muskets, led by 
colonel Febiger and general Wayne in person. When the 
works are forced, and not before, the victorious troops as they 

enter, will give the watchword with repeated and 

loud voices, and drive the enemy from their works and guns, 
which will favour the pass of the whole troops : should the 
enemy refuse to surrender, or attempt to make their escape 
by water or otherwise, effectual means must be used to effect 
the former and prevent the latter. 

Colonel Butler will move by the route (2,) preceded by one 
hundred chosen men with fixed bayonets, properly officered, 
at the distance of twenty yards in front of the column, which 
v, ill follow uncter colonel Butler with shouldered rauskct«. 



WAYNE. 455 

These hundred will also detach a proper officer and twenty- 
men a little in front to remove the obstructions ; as soon as 
they gain the works they will also give and continue the 
watchword, which will prevent confusion and mistake. 

If any soldier presume to take his musket from his shoul- 
der, or to fire, or begin the battle until ordered by his pro- 
per officer, he shall be instantly put to death by the officer 
next him ; for the misconduct of one man is not to put the 
whole troops in danger or disorder, and he be suffered to pass 
with life. After the troops begin to advance to the works, 
the strictest silence must be observed, and the closest atten- 
tion paid to the commands of the officers. 

The general has the fullest confidence in the bravery and 
fortitude of the corps that he has the happiness to command. 
The distinguished honour conferred on every officer and sol- 
dier who has been drafted into this corps by his excellency 
general Washington, the credit of the states they respectively 
belong to, and their own reputations, will be such powerful 
motives for each man to distinguish himself, that the general 
cannot have the least doubt of a glorious victory ; and he 
hereby most solemnly engages to reward the first man that 
enters the works with five hundred dollars and immediate 
promotion ; to the second four hundred dollars, to the third 
three hundred dollars, to the fourth two hundred dollars, and 
to the fifth one hundred dollars ; and will represent the con- 
duct of every officer and soldier who distinguishes himself in 
this action, in the most favourable point of view to his excel- 
lency, whose greatest pleasure is in rewarding merit. But 
should there be any soldier so lost to every feeling of honour, 
as to attempt to retreat one single foot, or skulk in the face of 
danger, the officer next to him is immediately to put him to 
death, that he may no longer disgrace the name of a soldier, 
or the corps or state he belongs to. 

As general Wayne is determined to share the danger of the 
night, so he wishes to participate in the glory of the day in 
common with his fellow soldiers. 

Immediately after the surrender of Stony Point, general 

Wayne transmitted to the commander in chief the following; 

laconic letter : 

" Stony Point, July 16, 1779 2 o'clock, A. M. 

" Dear General, — The fort and garrison, with colonel 

Johnson, are our's : our officers and men behaved like men 

determined to be free. 

Your's most sincerely, 

iin w " ANTHONY WAYNE. 

" Gen. Washington. 



456 WAYNE. 

Letter from General Wayne to General Washington. 

Stony Point, July 17th, 1779. 

Sir, — I have now the honour of giving your excellency a 
full and particular account of the reduction of this post by the 
light troops under my command. 

On the 15th instant, at twelve o'clock, we took up our line 
of march from Sandy Beach, distant about fourteen miles 
from this place ; the roads being exceedingly bad and nar- 
row, and having to pass over high mountains, and through 
such deep morasses and difficult defiles, that we were obliged 
the greatest part of the way to move in single files. At eight 
o'clock in the evening the van arrived at a Mr. Springsteel's, 
within one mile and an half of the enemy's lines, and formed 
into columns as fast as they came up, agreeable to the order 
of battle herewith transmitted. (Vide order.) Colonel Febi- 
ger's and colonel Meig's regiments with major Hull's detach- 
ment, formed the right column. Colonel Butler's regiment 
and major Murphy's two companies, the left. The troops re- 
mained in this position until several of the principal officers 
with myself had returned from reconnoitering the works. At 
half after eleven, (being the hour fixed on,) the whole moved 
forward : the van of the right was composed of one hundred 
and fifty volunteers, properly officered, with fixed bayonets 
and unloaded muskets, under the command of lieutenant colo- 
nel Fleury, preceded by twenty picked men, headed by a vi- 
gilant officer to remove the abattis and other obstructions. 
The van of the left consisted of one hundred volunteers, also 
with fixed bayonets and unloaded muskets, under the com- 
mand of major Steward : these were likewise preceded by 
twenty men, under a brave and determined officer. 

At twelve o'clock the assault was to begin on the right and 
left flanks of the enemy's works, and major Murphy to amuse 
them in front ; but from the obstructions thrown in our way, 
and a deep morass surrounding their whole front and over- 
flowed by the tide, rendering the approaches more difficult 
than at first apprehended, it was about twenty minutes after 
twelve before the assault began ; previous to which, I placed 
myself at the head of Folger's regiment, or right column, and 
gave the troops the most pointed orders not to attempt to fire, 
but put their whole dependence on the bayonet, which was 
most faithfully and literally obeyed. Neither the deep mo- 
rass, the formidable and double rows of abattis, or the right 
and strong works in front and flank, could damp the ardor of 
the troops, who, in the face of a most tremendous and incessant 
fire of musketry, and from artillery loaded with shells and 
grape-shot, forced their way at the point of the bayonet 
through every obstacle, both columns meeting in the centre of 



WAYNE. 457 

ihe enemy's works nearly at the same instant. Too much 
praise cannot be given to lieutenant colonel Fleury, (who 
struck the enemy's standard with his own hand.) and to ma* 
jor Steward, who commanded the advanced parties, for their 
brave and prudent conduct. Colonels Butler, Meigs, and 
Febiger, conducted themselves with that coolness, bravery, 
and perseverance that ever will ensure success. Lieutenant 
colonel Hay was wounded in the thigh, bravely fighting at 
the head of his battalion. 

I should take up too much of your excellency's time, was I 
to particularize every individual who deserves it, for their 
bravery on this occasion : however, I must acknowledge my- 
self indebted to major Lee for the frequent and useful intelH* 
genre he gave me, and which contributed much to the success 
of the enterprise : and it is with the greatest pleasure I ac- 
knowledge to you that I was supported in the attack by all 
the officers and soldiers, to the utmost of my wishes ; and re- 
turn my thanks to the officers and privates of artillery for 
their alertness in turning the cannon against the enemy's 
works at Verplank's Point, and their shipping, which slip- 
ped their cables, and immediately dropped down the river. 
1 should be wanting in gratitude, was I to omit mentioning 
captain Fishbourn and Mr. Archer, my two aids-de-camp, 
who on every occasion showed the greatest intrepidity, and 
supported me into the works after I had received my wound 
in passing the last abattis. 

Enclosed are returns of the killed and wounded, belonging 
to the light corps, as also that of the enemy, together with 
the number of prisoners taken : likewise of the ordnance and 
stores found in the garrison. I had forgot to inform your ex- 
cellency, that previous to the attack I had drawn general 
Muhlenburg into my rear, who, with three hundred men of 
his brigade took post on the opposite side of the marsh, and 
was to be in readiness either to support us, or to cover a re- 
treat in case of accident ; and have not the least doubt of his 
faithfully and effectually executing either, had there been an 
occasion for it. The humanity of our brave soldiers who 
scorned to take the lives of vanquished foes calling for mercy, 
reflects the highest honour on them, and accounts for so few 
of the enemy being killed on the occasion. I am not fully sa- 
tisfied with the manner in which I have mentioned lieutenant 
Gibbons of the sixth, and lieutenant Knox of the ninth, Penn- 
sylvania regiments ; the two gentlemen who led the advanced 
parties of each column. The first had seventeen men killed 
and wounded, out of twenty : the latter, though not quite so 
unfortunate in that respect, was, nevertheless, equally expo- 

58 



458 WAYNE. 

sed : they both behaved with an intrepidity and address that 
would have given credit to the oldest soldier. 

I have the honour to be, with singular respert, Your ex- 
cellency's most obedient, and verv humble servant, 

ANTHONY WAYNE. 
His Excellency Gen. Washington. 

Resolutions of Congress. 

In Congress, 26th July, 1779. 

Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of congress be gi- 
ven to his excellency general Washington, for the vigilance, 
wisdom, and magnanimity with which he has conducted the 
military operations of these states ; and which are, among 
many other signal instances, manifested in his orders for the 
late glorious enterprise and successful attack on the enemy's 
fortress on the banks of the Hudson river. 

Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of congress be 
presented to brigadier general Wayne, for his brave, prudent, 
and soldierly conduct, in the spirited and well conducted at- 
tack of Stony Point. 

Resolved unanimously. That congress entertain a proper 
sense of the good conduct of the officers and soldiers, under 
the command of brigadier general Wayne, in the assault of 
the enemy's works at Stony Point, and highly commend the 
coolness, discipline, and firm intrepidity, exhibited on the 
occasion. 

Resolved unanimously, That lieutenant colonel Fleury and 
major Steward, who by their situation in leading the two at- 
tacks, had a more immediate opportunity of distinguishing 
themselves, have by their personal achievements exhibited a 
blight example to their brother soldiers, and merit in a par- 
ticular manner, the approbation and acknowledgments of the 
United States. 

Resolved unanimously. That congress warmly approve 
and applaud the cool determined spirit with which lieutenants 
Gibbons and Knox led on the forlorn hope, braving danger 
and death in the cause of their country. 

Resolved unanimously, That a medal emblematical of this 
action be struck. That one of gold be presented to brigadier 
general Wayne, and a silver one to lieutenant colonel Fleury 
and major Steward respectively. 

Resolved unanimously. That brevets of captain be given 
to lieutenant Gibbons and lieutenant Knox. 

Resolved unanimously, That the brevet of captain be given 
to Mr. Archer, the bearer of the general's letter, and volun- 
teer aid to brigadier general Wayne. 

Resolved unanimously, That congress approve the promi 



WAYNE. 459 

ses of reward made by brigadier general AVayne, with the 
concurrence of the commander in chief, to the troops under 
his command. 

Resolved unanimously, That the value of the military 
stores taken at Stony Point be ascertained, and divided among 
the gallant troops by whom it was reduced, in such manner 
and proportion as the commander in chief shall prescribe. 
Extract from the minutes, 

Chas. Thompson, Secretary. 

Letter from Mr. Jay to General Wayne. 

Philadelphia, July 9,7th, 1779. 
Sir, — Your late glorious achievements have merited, and 
now receive the approbation and thanks of your country. 
They are contained in the enclosed act of congress, which I 
have the honour to transmit. 

This brilliant action adds fresh lustre to our arms, and will 
teach the enemy to respect our power, if not to imitate our 
humanity. You have nobly reaped laurels in the cause of 
your country, and in fields of danger and death. May these 
prove the earnest of more, and may victory ever bear your 
standard, and Providence be your shield. 
I have the honour to be, &c. 

John Jay, President. 
Brigadier General Wavne. 

Letter from General Wayne, to Mr. Jay. 

West Point, 10th Mgust, 1779. 

Sir,— Your very polite favour of the 27th ultimo, with the. 
extract of an act of congress, I have just now received. 

The honourable manner in which that respectable body 
have been pleased to express their approbation of my con- 
duct, in the enterprise on Stony Point, must be very flatter- 
ing to a young soldier ; but whilst I experience every sensa- 
tion arising from a consciousness of having used my best en- 
deavours to carry the orders of my general into execution. I 
feel much hurt that I did not in my letter to him of the 17th 
of July, mention, among other brave and worthy officers, the 
names of lieutenant colonel Sherman, majors Hull, Murphey, 
and Posey, whose good conduct and intrepidity justly enti- 
tled them to that attention. 

Permit me, therefore, through your excellency, to do them 
that justice now, which the state of my wound diverted me 
from in the first instance. And whilst I pay this tribute to 
real merit, I must not omit major Noirmont de Luneville, a 
French gentleman, who (in the character of a volunteer) stept 
among the first for glory. I will only beg leave to add, that 
every officer and soldier belonging to the light corps, discp- 



460 WAYNE.. 

vcred a zeal and intrepidity that did, and ever will, secure- 
success. — I am, with every sentiment of esteem, &e. 

ANTHONY WAYNE. 
His excellency John Jay, Esq. President of Congress. 

In the campaign of 1781, when Cornwallis and his army 
were obliged to surrender prisoners of war, general Wayne 
bore a conspicuous part. His presence of mind never failed 
him in the most critical situations : of this he gave an emi- 
nent example on the James river. Having been deceived by 
some false information into a belief that the British army 
had passed the river, leaving but the rear guard behind, he 
hastened to attack the latter before it should also have effec- 
ted its passage : but on pushing through a morass and wood, 
instead of the rear guard, he found the whole British army 
drawn up close to him. His situation did not admit of a mo- 
ment's deliberation. Conceiving the boldest to be the safest 
measure, he immediately led his small detachment, not ex- 
ceeding eight hundred men, to the charge, and after a short, 
but very smart firing, in which he lost one hundred and eigh- 
teen of his men, he succeeded in bringing off the rest under 
cover of the wood. Lord Cornwallis, suspecting the attack 
to be a feint, in order to draw him into an ambuscade, would 
not permit his troops to pursue. 

The enemy having made a considerable head in Georgia, 
Wayne was dispatched by general Washington to take com- 
mand of the forces in that state, and, after some sanguinary 
engagements, succeeded in establishing security and order. 
For his services in that state, the legislature presented him 
with a valuable farm. 

On the peace, which followed shortly after, he retired to 
private life ; but in 1789, we find him a member of the Penn- 
sylvania convention, and one of those in favour of the pre- 
sent federal constitution of the United States. 

In the year 1792, he was appointed to succeed general St. 
Clair, who had resigned the command of the army engaged 
against the Indians on our western frontier. Wayne formed 
an encampment at Pittsburg, and such exemplary discipline 
was introduced among the new troops, that, on their advance 
into the Indian country, they appeared like veterans. 

The Indians had collected in great numbers, and it was ne- 
cessary not only to rout them, but to occupy their country by 
a chain of posts, that should, for the future, check their pre- 
datory incursions. Pursuing this regular and systematic 
mode of advance, the autumn of 1793, found general Wayne 
with his army, at a post in the wilderness, called Greens- 
ville, about six miles in advance of fort Jefferson, where he 
determined to encamp for the winter, in order to make the 



WAYNE. 461 

necessary arrangements for opening the campaign with effect 
early in the following spring. After fortifying his camp, he 
took possession of the ground on which the Americans had 
heen defeated in 1791, which he fortified also, and called the 
work fort Recovery. Here he piously collected, and, with 
the honours of war, interred the bones of the unfortunate, al- 
though gallant victims of the 4th of November, 1791. This 
situation of the army, menacing the Indian villages, effectual- 
ly prevented any attack on the white settlements. The im- 
possibility of procuring the necessary supplies prevented the 
march of the troops till the summer. On the 8th of August, 
the army arrived at the junction of the rivers Au Glaiz and 
Miami of the Lakes, where they erected works for the pro- 
tection of the stores. About thirty miles from this place, the 
British had formed a post, in the vicinity of which the In- 
dians had assembled their whole force. On the 15th, the ar- 
my again advanced down the Miami, and on the 18th arrived 
at the rapids. On the following day they erected some works 
for the protection of the baggage. The situation of the enemy 
was rcconnoitered, and they were found posted in a thick 
wood, in the rear of the British fort. On the 20th the army 
advanced to the attack. The Miami covered the right flank, 
and on the left were the mounted volunteers, commanded by 
general Todd. After marching about five miles, major Price, 
who led the advance, received so heavy a fire from the Indians, 
who were stationed behind trees, that he was compelled to 
fall back. The enemy had occupied a wood in front of the 
British fort, which, from the quantity of fallen timber, could 
not be entered by the horse. The legion was immediately or- 
dered to advance with trailed arms, and rouse them from their 
covert; the cavalry under captain Campbell, were directed 
to pass between the Indians and the rirer. while the volun- 
teers, led by general Scott, made a circuit to turn their flank. 
So rapid, however, was the charge of the legion, that before 
the rest of the army could get into action, the enemy were 
completely routed, and driven through the woods for more 
than two miles, and the troops halted within gun-shot of the 
British fort. All the Indians' houses and cornfields were de- 
stroyed. In this decisive action, the whole loss of general 
Wayne's army in killed and wounded, amounted only to one 
hundred and seven men. As hostilities continued on the part 
of the Indians, their whole country was laid waste, and forts 
established, which effectually prevented their return. 

The success of this engagement destroyed the enemy's 
power; and, in the following year, general Wayne concluded 
a definitive treaty of peace with them. 

A life of peril and glory was terminated in December, 1796. 



462- WAYNE. 

He had shielded his country from the murderous tomahawk 
of the savage. He had established her boundaries. He had 
forced her enemies to sue for her protection. He beheld her 
triumphant, rich in arts, and potent in arms. What more 
could his patriot spirit wish to see ? He died in a hut at Pres- 
que Isle, aged about fifty-one years, and was buried on the 
shore of Lake Erie. 

A few years since his bones were taken up by his son, Isaac 
Wayne, Esq. and entombed in his native county ; and by di- 
rection of the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, 
an elegant monument was erected. It is to be seen within the 
cemetry of St. David's church, situated in Chester county. 
It is constructed of white marble, of the most correct sym- 
metry and beauty. The south front exhibits the following 
inscription : 

In honour of the distinguished 

Military services of 

Major General 

ANTHONY WAYNE, 

And as an affectionate tribute 

of respect to his memory, 

This stone was erected by his 

companions in arms, 

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE SOCIETY OF 
THE CINCINNATI, 

July 4th, A. D. 1809, 

Thirty fourth anniversary of 

The Independence of 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA } 

An event which constitutes 

the most 

Appropriate eulogium of an American 

SOLDIER AND PATRIOT. 

The north front exhibits the following inscription : 

Major General 

ANTHONY WAYNE, 

Was born at Waynesborough, 

in Chester county, 

State of Pennsylvania, 

A. D, 1745. 

After a life of honour and usefulness. 

He died in December, 1796, 

at a military post 

On the shore of Lake Erie, 

Commander in chief of the army of 

THE UNITED STATES. 

His military achievements 



WILLIAMS. 46S 

are consecrated 
In the history of his country, 

and in 

The hearts of his countrymen. 

His remains 

Are here deposited. 

WILLIAMS, Otho Holland, a brigadier general in the 
American army, was born in the county of Prince George, 
in Maryland, in the year 1748. He was bred up in the clerk's 
office of the county, a profession which presented better pros- 
pects to a young man. than any other office then procurable 
under the colonial government of Maryland. He was remo- 
ved, just before the war broke out, to the clerk's office in the 
county of Baltimore, of which he bad the principal direction ; 
and the business of which he conducted with exemplary pro- 
priety. Anxious to draw his sword in defence of his oppres- 
sed country, as soon as the last resort became inevitable, 
Williams was appointed lieutenant in the company of rifle- 
men raised in the county of Frederick, commanded by cap- 
tain Price, and marched in 1775, to the American camp be- 
fore Boston. In 1776, a rifle regiment was formed, of which 
Stephenson was appointed colonel, Raw lings lieutenant colo- 
nel, and Williams major. 

Stephenson soon dying, the command of the regiment de- 
volved upon Ravvlings, who, with his regiment, formed part 
of the garrison of fort Washington, in the state of New York, 
when assailed by sir William Howe, pushing Washington 
over the North river. In this attack, the rifle regiment op- 
posed the Hessian column, and behaved to admiration, hold- 
ing for a long time, victory in suspense, and severely crip- 
pling its adversary. The fort was nevertheless carried by 
capitulation, and its garrison became prisoners of war. After 
the surrender of Burgoyne's army, colonel Wilkinson, ad- 
jutant general to general Gates, who w as personally attached 
to major Williams, procured his exchange for major Ach- 
land, wounded in the first action between the northern ar- 
mies, and left on the ground, with many others, to the mercy 
of the American general. While in captivity, Williams be- 
came entitled to the command of a regiment ; and as soon as 
he was exchanged, he was placed at the head of the sixth 
Maryland. The Maryland and Delaware lines having been 
detached to South Carolina, soon after the reduction of 
Charleston, colonel Williams accompanied the Baron de 
Kalb, and after general Gates took command of the army, 
he was called to the important station of adjutant general to 
the same. He bore a distinguished part in the battle of the 
sixteenth of August, and shared with the general in the bitter 
adversity of that disastrous period. 



464 WOOSTER. 

When Greene took command of the southern army, colonel 
Williams was retained in the station he then occupied, which, 
he held to the end of the war, enjoying the uninterrupted confi- 
dence of his commander, and the esteem of his fellow soldiers. 

Throughout the important campaign which followed, he 
acted a conspicuous part, and greatly contributed, by the ho- 
nourable and intelligent discharge of the duties of the station 
which he held, to the successful issue of Greene's operations. 
At the head of the light troops, during our difficult retreat, 
he was signally efficient in holding the army safe until it ef- 
fected its passage across the river Dan ; and after Greene's 
return into North Carolina, when, to save that state, the 
American general was constrained to put to hazard his infe- 
rior force, he was no less useful in thwarting the various at- 
tempts of lord Cornwallis to strike his antagonist. He se- 
conded his general in the fields of Guilford, of Hobrick, and 
of Eutaws, invariably exciting, by his impressive example, 
officer and soldier to an animated display of skill and courage. 

After the war he was appointed collector of the port of Bal- 
timore. He died in July, 1794, of a pulmonary complaint. 

Brigadier general Williams was about five feet ten inches 
high, erect and elegant in form, made for activity rather than 
strength. His countenance was expressive, and the faithful 
index of his warm and honest heart. Pleasing in his address, 
he never failed to render himself acceptable, in whatever cir- 
cle he moved, notwithstanding a sternness of character which 
was sometimes manifested with too much asperity. He was 
beneficent to his friends, but very cold to all whose correct- 
ness in moral principle became questionable in his mind. As 
a soldier, he may be called a rigid, not cruel disciplinarian ; 
obeying with exactitude his superior, he exacted the like 
obedience from his inferior. 

In the field of battle he was self-possessed, intelligent, and 
ardent ; in camp, circumspect, attentive and systematic ; in 
council, sincere, deep and perspicacious. During the cam- 
paigns of general Greene, he was uniformly one of his few 
advisers, and held his unchanged confidence : nor was he less 
esteemed by his brother officers, or less respected by his sol- 
diery. 

Previous to the disbandonment of the army, congress mani 
fested their sense of Williams's merit and services, by pro- 
moting him to the rank of brigadier general. 

WOOSTER, David, major general in the revolutionary 
war, was born at Stratford, in 1711, and was graduated at 
Yale college in 1738. At the commencement of the war with 
Great Britain, he was appointed to the chief command of the 
troops in the service of Connecticut, and made a brigadier 






WYTHE. 465 

general in the continental service ; but this commission lie 
afterwards resigned. In 1776, he was appointed the first ma- 
jor general of the militia of his native state. While opposing 
a detachment of British troops, whose object was to destroy 
the public stores at Danbury, he was mortally wounded at 
Ridgefield, April 27, 1777, and died on the second of May. 
Though seventy years old, general Wooster behaved with the 
vigor and spirit of youth. Congress resolved that a monu- 
ment should be erected to his memory, as an acknowledg- 
ment of his merit and services. 

WYTHE, George, Chancellor of Virginia, and a distin- 
guished friend of his country, was born in the county of Eli- 
zabeth city, in 1726. At school he learned only to read and 
write, and to apply the five first rules in arithmetic. With- 
out the assistance of any instructor he acquired an accurate 
knowledge of the Greek, and he read the best authors in that 
as well as in the Latin language. He made himself also a 
profound lawyer. 

Having obtained a license to practice law, he took his sta- 
tion at the bar of the old general court, with many other great 
men, whose merit has been the boast of Virginia. Among 
them he was conspicuous, not for his eloquence or ingenuity 
in maintaining a bad cause, but for his sound sense and learn- 
ing, and rigid attachment to justice. He never undertook the 
support of a cause which he knew to be bad, or which did not 
appear to be just or honourable. He was even known, when 
he doubted the statement of his client, to insist upon his mak- 
ing an affidavit to its truth, and in every instance, where it 
was in his power, he examined the witnesses as to the facts 
intended to be proved before he brought the suit, or agreed to 
defend it. 

When the time arrived, which Heaven had destined for the 
separation of the wide, confederated republic of America, 
from the dominion of Great Britain, Mr. Wythe was one of 
the instruments in the hand of Providence for accomplishing 
that great work. He took a decided part in the very first 
movements of opposition. Not content merely to fall in with 
the wishes of his fellow citizens, he assisted in persuading 
them not to submit to British tyranny. With a prophetic 
mind he looked forward to the event of an approaching war, 
and resolutely prepared to encounter all its evils rather than 
resign his attachment to liberty. With his pupil and friend, 
Thomas Jefferson, he roused the people to resistance. As the 
controversy grew warm, his zeal became proportionably fer- 
vent. He joined a corps of volunteers, accustomed himself 
to military discipline, and was ready to march at the call of 
his country. But that country, to whose interests he was so 

59 



466 WYTHE. 

sincerely attached, had other duties of more importance for 
him to perform. It was his destiny to ohtain distinction as a 
statesman, legislator and judge, and not as a warrior. Be- 
fore, the war rommenced, he was elected a member of the Vir- 
ginia assembly. After having been for some time speaker of 
the house of burgesses, he was sent by the members of that 
body as one of their delegates to the congress, which assem- 
bled May 10, 1775, and did not separate until it had declared 
the independence of America. In that most enlightened and 
patriotic assembly, he possessed rip small share of influence. 
He was one of those who signed the memorable declaration, 
by which the heroic legislators of this country pledged "their 
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour," to maintain 
and defend its violated rights. But the voice of his native 
state soon called him from the busy scenes, where his talents 
had been so ably exerted. In November, 1776, he was appoint- 
ed one of a committee to revise the laws of Virginia. This 
was a work of very great labour and difficulty. After finish- 
ing the task of new modelling the laws, he was employed to 
carry them into effect, by being placed in the difficult office 
of judge of a court of equity. He was one of the three judges 
of the high court of chancery, and afterwards sole chancellor 
of Virginia, in which station he continued until the day of his 
death, during a period of more than twenty years. 

He was a member of the Virginia convention, which in 
June 1788, considered the proposed constitution of the Uni- 
ted States. He was ever attached to the constitution on ac- 
count of the principles of freedom and justice which it con- 
tained : and in every change of affairs lie was steady in sup- 
porting the rights of man. His political opinions were always 
firmly republican. He presided twice successively in the col- 
lege of electors in Virginia, and twice voted for a president 
whose political opinions coincided with his own. 

He died in June, 1806, in the eighty first year of his age. 
It was supposed that he was poisoned : but the person suspec- 
ted was acquitted by a jury of his countrymen. By his last 
will he bequeathed his valuable library and philosophical ap- 
paratus to his friend Mr. Jefferson, and distributed the re- 
mainder of his little property among the grand children of 
his sister, and the slaves, whom he had set free. 

Chancellor Wythe possessed a soul replete with benevo- 
lence. He was of a social and affectionate disposition. His 
integrity was never even suspected. While he practised at 
the bar, when offers of an extraordinary but well merited 
compensation were made to him by clients whose causes he 
had gained, he would say, that the laborer was indeed wor- 
thy of his hire, but the lawful fee was all he had a right to 



YATES. 467 

demand : and as to presents, he did not want and would not 
accept them from any man. This grandeur of mind he uni- 
formly preserved to the end of his life. 

YATES, Robert, was born on the 27th day of January, 
1738, in the city of Schenectady, in the state of New York. 
At the age of sixteen he was sent by his parents to the city of 
New York, where he received a classical education, and af- 
terwards studied the law with William Livingston, Esq. a 
celebrated barrister in that metropolis. On the completion of 
his studies, he was admitted to the bar, and soon after fixed 
his residence in the city of Albany, where in due time he re- 
ceived the degrees of solicitor and counsellor in the court of 
chancery. He soon became eminent in his profession, and on 
account of his incorruptible integrity, was known by the ap- 
pellation of the Honest Lawyer. At the age of twenty-seven, 
he married Miss Jane Van Ness. On the prospect of a rup- 
ture between this country and Great Britain, his open and 
avowed principles as a Whig, brought him into political no- 
tice ; and several well written, essays, which were the pro- 
ductions of his pen, contributed in no small degree, to esta- 
blish his reputation as a writer in defence of the rights and 
liberties of his country. He had already held a seat as a 
member of the corporation of the city of Albany, and as at- 
torney and counsel to that board ; and he was soon after ap- 
pointed a member of the < Committee of Public Safety,' a bo- 
dy of men who were invested with almost inquisitorial powers, 
and who had justly become the dread and scourge of that class 
of men called Tories. By the exertions of Mr. Yates, the pro- 
ceedings of that tribunal were tempered with moderation, and 
the patriotic zeal of the community confined within its proper 
and legitimate sphere of action. We find him not long after- 
wards, holding a seat in the provincial congress of his own 
state, and during the recess of that body, performing the com- 
plicated and arduous duties of a chairman of a committee for 
the organization and direction of military operations against 
the common enemy. In the year 1777, the constitution of 
New York was adopted, and Mr. Yates was an active and 
distinguished member of the convention that framed that in- 
strument. During the same year he received, without solici- 
tation, the appointment of a judge of the supreme court, at a 
time when an extensive and lucrative practice as a lawyer, 
held out to him strong inducements to decline its acceptance. 
Regardless, however, of private interest, he entered upon the 
duties of that office, rendered at the same time peculiarly de- 
licate and dangerous. He sat upon the bench, as a writer has 
expressed it, " with a halter about his neck," exposed to pun- 
ishment as a rebel, had our efforts for emancipation proved 



46.S YATES. 

abortive ; nor were these the least of his dangers : tor in 
counties ravaged or possessed by the enemy, or by secret do- 
mestic foes watching every opportunity to ruin or betray their 
country, he was sometimes obliged to hold his courts. But 
no dangers could appal, nor fears deter, him from a faithful 
and honest performance of the functions of his office. He was 
particularly distinguished for his impartiality in the trials of 
state criminals ; and he was not unfrequently obliged to abate 
the intemperate zeal, or ill-judged patriotism of the juries 
who were to decide upon the fate of unfortunate prisoners. 
On one occasion he sent a jury from the bar four times suc- 
cessively, to reconsider a verdict of conviction which they 
had pronounced most unwarrantably against the accused, 
merely because they suspected he was a tory, though without 
any proof that could authorise the verdict. As the accused 
had become very obnoxious to the great body of the whigs, 
the legislature were inflamed, and seriously contemplated 
calling Judge Yates before them to answer for his conduct: 
but he was alike indifferent to censure or applause in the 
faithful and independent exercise of his judicial duties ; and 
the legislature, at length, prudently dropped the affair. His 
salary during the war was very small, and hardly sufficient 
for the support of himself and family : indeed before the scale 
of depreciation of continental money had been settled, he re- 
ceived one years' salary in that money, at its nominal value, 
the whole of which was just sufficient (as he humourously ob- 
served) *<to purchase a pound of green tea for his wife." He 
was often urged to unite with some of his friends in specula- 
ting on forfeited estates during the war, by which he might 
easily have enriched himself and his connexions, without cen- 
sure or suspicion ; and although such speculations were com- 
mon, yet he would not consent to become wealthy upon the 
ruin of others. "No," said he, *' I will sooner die a beggar 
than own a foot of land acquired by such means." In Sep- 
tember, 1776. George Clinton, afterwards vice president of 
the United States, anxious to receive the co-operation of judge 
Yates in certain measures then deemed important and neces- 
sary, addressed him a letter, of which the following is an ex- 
tract : " we have, at last, arrived at a most important crisis, 
which will either secure the independence of our country, or 
determine that she shall still remain in a state of vassalage 
to Great Britain. I know your sentiments on this subject, 
and I am extremely happy to find that they agree so exactly 
with mine : but as we are called upon to act as well as to 
think, your talents and exertions in the common cause can- 
not be spared." 
After the conclusion of the revolutionary war, he was cho« 



YATES. 469 

sen, together with general Hamilton and chancellor Lansing, 
to represent his native state in the convention that formed the 
constitution of the United States ; and to his labours in that 
convention we are indebted for the preservation of some of 
the most important debates that ever distinguished any age 
or country. He was also a member of the convention subse- 
quently held in his native state, to whom that constitution 
was submitted for adoption and ratification. His political 
opinions were open and unreserved. He was opposed to a 
consolidated national government, and friendly to a confede- 
ration of the states, preserving their integrity and equality 
as such. Although the form of government eventually adopt- 
ed, was not, in all its parts, agreeable to his views and wishes, 
still, in all his discussions, and especially in his judicial ca- 
pacity, he deemed it a sacred duty to inculcate entire submis- 
sion to, and reverence for, that constitution. In the first 
charge which he delivered to a grand jury immediately after 
its adoption, he used the following language : " the proposed 
form of government for the union, has at length received the 
sanction of so many of the states, as to make it the supreme 
law of the land ; and it is not, therefore, any longer a ques- 
tion whether or not its provisions are such as they ought to 
be, in all their different branches. We, as good citizens, are 
bound implicitly to obey them ; for the united wisdom of 
America has sanctioned and confirmed the act, and it would 
be little short of treason against the republic to hesitate in 
our obedience and respect to the constitution of the United 
States of America. Let me, therefore, exhort you. gentlemen, 
not only in your capacity as grand jurors, but in your more 
durable, and equally respectable character as citizens, to pre- 
serve inviolate this charter of our national rights and safety: 
a charter second only in dignity and importance to the Decla- 
ration of our Independence. We have escaped, it is true, by 
the blessing of divine Providence, from the tyranny of a fo- 
reign foe ; but let us now be equally watchful in guarding 
against worse and far more dangerous enemies — domestic 
broils, and intestine divisions." Soon after this period he fil- 
led the important trust of commissioner, to treat with the 
states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, on the subject of 
territory, and to settle certain claims of his native state, 
against the state of Vermont. In 1790, he received the ap- 
pointment of chief justice of the state of New r York, and was 
twice supported for the office of governor, to which latter of- 
fice he was, on one occasion, elected by a majority of votes ; 
but, on account of some real or supposed inaccuracy in some 
of the returns, he did not receive the certificate of his election. 
In January, 1798, having completed his sixtieth year, and 



470 YATES. 

with it, the constitutional term of his office, he retired from 
the bench, of which, for twenty-one years, he had been the 
ornament and pride, and resumed the practice of the law. So 
highly did the legislature estimate his former services and 
usefulness, that it was proposed in that body to fix an annual 
allowance or stipend on him for life; and the proposition ac- 
tually passed the senate, but was laid aside in the assembly, 
as being supposed to savour too much of the monarchical re- 
gulation called pensions. Determined, however, to provide 
for an old and faithful public servant, who had worn out his 
better days for the good of his country, the legislature ap- 
pointed him a commissioner to settle disputed titles to lands 
in the military tract; and this appointment he held till near- 
ly the close of his life, when the law creating it, ceased by its 
own limitation. On the ninth day of September, 1801, he 
finished his mortal career. " full of honours and full of years,*' 
placing a firm reliance on the merits of an atoning Saviour, 
and the goodness of a merciful God. He left a widow and 
four children, two of whom only are now living, a son and 
daughter ; the former John V. N. Yates, Esquire, present se- 
cretary of state, of the state of New York. 

Chief Justice Yates died poor. He had always been indif- 
ferent to his own private interest ; for his benevolent and pa- 
triotic feelings, could not be regulated nor restrained by the 
cold calculations of avarice or gain. No man was more es- 
teemed than himself. He never had, it is believed, in the 
whole course of his life, a personal enemy ; and the tears of 
the widow, the orphan, the destitute and oppressed, followed 
him to his grave. He was, emphatically, the honest man and 
the upright judge. His talents were of the higher order, and 
his manners were plain, attractive, and unassuming. His 
opinions at nisi prius, were seldom found to be incorrect : and 
on the bench of the supreme court he was distinguished for a 
clear, discriminating mind, that readily arrived at the true 
merits of the case before him. It may be safely affirmed, that 
no single individual ever filled so many high and responsible 
stations with greater credit to himself, and honour to the 
state. His memory will be cherished as long as virtue is es- 
teemed, and talents respected ; and his epitaph is written in 
the hearts of his fellow citizens, and in the history of his 
country. 



as?®a; 



IN CONGRESS, Philadelphia, July 5, 1775. 
A DECLARATION 

«Y THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED COLONIES OF 
NORTH AMERICA, SETTING FORTH THE CAUSES AND NE- 
CESSITY OF THEIR TAKING UP ARMS. 

Directed to be published by General Washington, upon his arri- 
val before Boston. 

If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason, to 
believe that the Divine Author of our existence intended a 
part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and 
an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite 
goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination 
never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, 
the inhabitants of these Colonies might at least require from 
the parliament of Great Britain, some evidence, that this 
dreadful authority over them has been granted to that body. 
But a reverence for our great Creator, principles of humani- 
ty, and the dictates of common sense, must convince all those 
who reflect upon the subject, that government was instituted 
to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be adminis- 
tered for the attainment of that end. The legislature of 
Great Britain, however, stimulated by an inordinate passion 
for a power not only unjustifiable, but which they know 7 to be 
peculiarly reprobated by the very constitution of that king- 
dom, and desperate of success in any mode of contest, where 
regard should be had to truth, law or right, have at length, 
deserting those, attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic 
purpose of enslaving these Colonies by violence, and have 
thereby rendered it necessary for us to close with their last 
appeal from reason to arms. Yet, however blinded that as- 
sembly may be, by their intemperate rage for unlimited dom- 
ination, so to slight justice and the opinion of mankind, we 
esteem ourselves bound by obligations of respect to the rest 
of the world, to make known the justice of our cause. 



472 APPENDIX. 

Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great Britain, 
left their native land, to seek on these shores a residence for 
civil and religious freedom. At the expense of their blood, 
at the hazard of their fortunes, without the least charge to 
the country from which they removed, by unceasing labour 
and an unconquerable spirit, they effected settlements in the 
distant and inhospitable wilds of America, then filled with 
numerous and warlike nations of barbarians. Societies or 
governments, vested with perfect legislatures, were formed 
under charters from the crown, and an harmonious inter- 
course was established between the Colonies and the kingdom 
from which they derived their origin. The mutual benefits 
of this union became in a short time so extraordinary, as to 
excite astonishment. It is universally confessed, that the 
amazing increase of the wealth, strength, and navigation of 
the realm, arose from this source ; and the minister, who so 
wisely and successfully directed the measures of Great Britain 
in the late war, publicly declared that these Colonies enabled 
them to triumph over her enemies. Towards the conclusion 
of that war, it pleased our sovereign to make a change in his 
counsels. From that fatal moment, the affairs of the British 
empire began to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding 
from the summit of glorious prosperity, to which they had 
been advanced by the virtues and abilities of one man, are at 
length distracted by the convulsions, that now shake it to its 
deepest foundations. The new ministry finding the brave 
foes of Britain, though frequently defeated, yet still contend- 
ing, took up the unfortunate idea of granting them a hasty 
peace, and of then subduing her faithful friends. 

These devoted colonies were judged to be in such a state as 
to present victories without bloodshed, and all the easy emo- 
luments of statuteable plunder. The uninterrupted tenor of 
their peaceable and respectful behaviour from the beginning 
of colonization, their dutiful, zealous, and useful services dur- 
ing the war, though so recently and amply acknowledged in 
the most honourable manner by his majesty, by the late king, 
and by parliament, could not save them from the meditated 
innovations. Parliament was influenced to adopt the perni- 
cious project, and assuming a new power over them, have, 
in the course of eleven years, given such decisive specimens 
of the spirit and consequences attending this power, as to 
leave no doubt concerning the effects of acquiescence under 
it. They have undertaken to give and grant our money with- 
out our consent, though we have ever exercised an exclusive 
right to dispose of our own property : statutes have been pas- 
sed for extending the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty and 
vice-admiralty beyond their ancient limits ; for depriving us 



APPENDIX. 473 

rtf the accustomed and inestimable privilege of trial by jury* 
in cases affecting both life and property ; for suspending the 
legislature of one of the colonies ; for interdicting all com- 
merce to the capital of another ; and for altering fundamen- 
tally the form of government established by charter, and se- 
cured by acts of its own legislature solemnly confirmed by 
the crown ; for exempting the " murderers" of colonists from 
legal trial, and, in effect, from punishment ; for erecting in a 
neighbouring province, acquired by the joint arms of Great 
Britain and America, a despotism dangerous to our very ex- 
istence ; and for quartering soldiers upon the colonists in 
time of profound peace. It has also been resolved in parlia- 
ment, that Colonists charged with committing certain offen- 
ces, shall be transported to England to be tried. 

But why should we enumerate our injuries in detail ? By 
one statute it is declared, that parliament can " of right make 
laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever." What is to defend 
us against so enormous, so unlimited a power ? Not a single 
man of those who assume it, is chosen by us ; or is subject to 
our controul or influence ; but, on the contrary, they are all 
of them exempt from the operation of such laws, and an Ame- 
rican revenue, if not diverted from the ostensible purposes for 
which it is raised, would actually lighten their own burthens 
in proportion as they increase ours. We saw the misery to 
which such despotism would reduce us. We for ten years in- 
cessantly and ineffectually besieged the throne as supplicants; 
we reasoned, we remonstrated with parliament in the most 
mild and decent language. 

Administration, sensible that we should regard these op- 
pressive measures as freemen ought to do, sent over fleets and 
armies to enforce them. The indignation of the Americans 
was roused, it is true ; but it was the indignation of a virtu- 
ous, loyal, and affectionate people. A congress of delegates 
from the United Colonies was assembled at Philadelphia, on 
the fifth day of last September. We resolved again to offer 
an humble and dutiful petition to the king, and also addressed 
our fellow subjects of Great Britain. We have pursued every 
temperate, every respectful measure ; we have even proceed- 
ed to break off our commercial intercourse with our fellow 
subjects, as the last peaceable admonition, that our attach- 
ment to no nation upon earth should supplant our attachment 
to liberty. This we flattered ourselves was the ultimate step 
of the controversy: but subsequent events have shewn, how 
vain was this hope of finding moderation in our enemies. 

Several threatening expressions against the Colonies were 
inserted in his majesty's speech ; our petition, though we were 
told it was a decent one, and that his majesty had been pleas- 

60 



474 APPENDIX, 

ed to receive it graciously, and to promise laying it before' 
his parliament, was huddled into both houses among a bun- 
dle of American papers, and there neglected. The lords and 
commons in their address, in the month of February, said, 
that a rebellion at that time actually existed within the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay ; and that those concerned in it, 
had been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combina- 
tions and engagements, entered into by his majesty's subjects 
in several of the other Colonies ; and therefore they besought 
his majesty, that he would take the most effectual measures 
to enforce due obedience to the laws and authority of the su- 
preme legislature. Soon after, the commercial intercourse 
of whole colonies with foreign countries, and with each other, 
was cut off by an act of parliament : by another, several of 
them were entirely prohibited from the fisheries in the seas 
near their coast, on which they always depended for their 
sustenance : and large reinforcements of ships and troops 
were immediately sent over to general Gage. 

Fruitless were all the intreaties, arguments, and eloquence 
»f an illustrious band of the most distinguished peers and 
commoners, who nobly and strenuously asserted the justice of 
our cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the heedless fury with 
which these accumulated and unexampled outrages were hur- 
ried on. Equally fruitless was the interference of the city of 
London, of Bristol, and many other respectable towns in our 
favour. Parliament adopted an insidious manoeuvre calcula- 
ted to divide us, to establish a perpetual auction of taxations, 
where Colony should bid against Colony, all of them unin- 
formed what ransom would redeem their lives ; and thus to 
extort from us, at the point of the bayonet, the unknown sums 
that would be sufficient to gratify, if possible to gratify, min- 
isterial rapacity, with the miserable indulgence left to us of 
raising, in our own mode, the prescribed tribute. What 
terms more rigid and humiliating could have been dictated by 
remorseless victors to conquered enemies ? In our circumstan- 
ces to accept them, would be to deserve them. 

Soon after the intelligence of these proceedings arrived on 
this continent, general Gage, who in the course of the last 
year had taken possession of the town of Boston, in the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay, and still occupied it as a garri- 
son, on the 19th day of April, sent out from that place a large 
detachment of his army, who made an unprovoked assault on 
the inhabitants of the said province, at the town of Lexington, 
as appears by the affidavits of a great number of persons, 
some of whom were officers and soldiers of that detachment, 
murdered eight of the inhabitants, and wounded many others. 
From thence the troops proceeded in warlike array to the 
town of Concord, where they set upon another party of the 



APPENDIX. 475 

inhabitant* of the same province, killing several and wound- 
ing more, until compelled to retreat by the country people 
suddenly assembled to repel this cruel aggression. Hostili- 
ties, thus commenced by the British troops, have been since 
prosecuted by them without regard to faith or reputation. 
The inhabitants of Boston being confined within that town by 
the general, their governor, and having, in order to procure 
their dismission, entered into a treaty with him, it was stip- 
ulated that the said inhabitants, having deposited their arms 
with their own magistrates, should have liberty to depart, 
taking with them their other effects. They accordingly de- 
livered up their arms ; but, in open violation of honor, in de- 
fiance of the obligation of treaties, which even savage na- 
tions esteem sacred, the governor ordered the arms deposited 
as aforesaid, that they might be preserved for their owners, 
to be seized by a body of soldiers ; detained the greatest part 
of the inhabitants in the town, and compelled the few who 
were permitted to retire, to leave their most valuable effects 
behind. 

By this perfidy, wives are separated from their husbands, 
children from their parents, the aged and the sick from their 
relations and friends, who wish to attend and comfort them ; 
and those who have been used to live in plenty and even ele- 
gance, are reduced to deplorable distress. 

The general, further emulating his ministerial masters, by 
a proclamation bearing date on the 12th day of June, after 
venting the grossest fasehoods and calumnies against the 
good people of these colonies, proceeds to "declare them all, 
either by name or description, to be rebels and traitors, to 
supersede the course of the common law, and instead thereof 
to publish and order the use and exercise of the law martial. " 
His troops have butchered our countrymen, have wantonly 
burnt Charlestown, besides a considerable number of houses 
in other places ; our ships and vessels arc seized ; the neces- 
sary supplies of provisions are intercepted, and he is exerting 
his utmost power to spread destruction and devastation a- 
round him. 

We have received certain intelligence, that general Carle- 
ton, the governor of Canada, is instigating the people of that 
province, and the Indians, to fall upon us ; and we have but 
too much reason to apprehend, that schemes have been form- 
ed to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a part of 
these Colonies now feel, and all of them are sure of feeling, 
as far as the vengeance of administration can inflict them, 
the complicated calamities of fire, sword and famine. We are 
reduced to the alternative of choosinsr an unconditional sub- 
mission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance 
by force. The latter is our choice* We have counted the cost of 



476 APPENDIX. 

this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. 
Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us-tamely to surrender 
that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, 
and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from 
us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning 
succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably 
awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon 
them. 

Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal 
resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is 
undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully acknowledge, as a sig- 
nal instance of the Divine favor towards us, that his provi- 
dence would not permit us to be called into this severe con- 
troversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, 
had been previously exercised in warlike operations, and 
possessed the means of defending ourselves. With hearts 
fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, 
before God, and the world declare, that, exerting the ut- 
most energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator 
hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been 
compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of 
every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, 
employ for the preservation of our liberties ; being with one 
mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves. 

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our 
friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we as- 
sure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has 
so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we 
sincerely wish to see restored. Necessity has not yet driven 
us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any 
other nation to war against them. We have not raised armies 
with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain, and 
establishing independent states. We fight not for glory or 
for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spec- 
tacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any 
imputation of or even suspicion of offence. They boast of 
their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder 
conditions than servitude or death. 

In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is 
our birth-right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late viola- 
tion of it ; for the protection of our property, acquired solely 
by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, 
against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We 
shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part 
of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall 
be removed, and not before. 

With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme 
and impartial Judge and Ruler of the universe, we most de- 



APPENDIX. 477 



voutly implore his Divine goodness to protect us happily 
through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to re- 
conciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the 
empire from the calamities of civil war. 



IN CONGRESS, July 8, 1775. 

TO THE 

KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 

Most Gracious Sovereign, 

We, your majesty's faithful subjects of the colonies of New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex 
on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and 
South Carolina, in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of 
these colonies, who have deputed us to represent them in ge- 
neral congress, intreat your majesty's gracious attention to 
this our humble petition. 

The union between our mother country and these colonies, 
and the energy of mild and just government, produced bene- 
fits so remarkably important, and afforded such an assurance 
of their permanency and increase, that the wonder and envy 
of other nations were excited, while they beheld Great Bri- 
tain rising to a power the most extraordinary the world had 
ever known. 

Her rivals, observing that there was no probability of this 
happy connection being broken by civil dissentions, and ap- 
prehending its future effects, if left any longer undisturbed, 
resolved to prevent her receiving such continual and formida- 
ble accessions of wealth and strength, by checking the growth 
of those settlements from which they were to be derived. 

In the prosecution of this attempt, events so unfavourable 
to the design took place, that every friend to the interest of 
Great Britain and these colonies, entertained pleasing and 
reasonable expectations of seeing an additional force and ex- 
ertion immediately given to the operations of the union, hither- 
to experienced, by an enlargement of the dominions of the 
crown, and the removal of ancient and warlike enemies to a 
greater distance. 

At the conclusion, therefore, of the late war, the most glo- 
rious and advantageous that ever had been carried on by 
British arms, your loyal Colonists having contributed to its 
success, by such repeated and strenuous exertions, as fre- 
quently procured them the distinguished approbation of your 
majesty, of the late king, and of parliament, doubted not but 



478 APPENDIX. 

that they should he permitted, with the rest of the empire, to 
share in the blessings of peace, and the emoluments of victo- 
ry and conquest. 

While these recent and honourable acknowledgments of 
their merits remained on record in the journals and acts of 
that august legislature, the parliament, undefaced by the im- 
putation or even the suspicion of any offence, they were alarm- 
ed by a new system of statutes and regulations adopted for 
the administration of the colonies, that filled their minds with 
the most painful fears and jealousies ; and to their inexpres- 
sible astonishment, perceived the danger of a foreign quarrel 
quickly succeeded by domestic danger, in their judgment of 
a more dreadful kind. 

Nor were these anxieties alleviated by any tendency in this 
system to promote the welfare of their mother country For 
though its effects were more immediately felt by them, yet its 
influence appeared to be injurious to the commerce and pros- 
perity of Great Britain. 

We shall decline trie ungrateful task of describing the irk- 
some variety of artifices, practised by many of your majes- 
ty's ministers, the delusive pretences, fruitless terrors, and 
unavailing severities that have from time to time been dealt 
out by them, in their attempts to execute this impolitic plan, 
or of tracing through a series of years past, the progress of 
the unhappy differences between Great Britain and these co- 
lonies, that have flowed from this fatal source. 

Your majesty's ministers, persevering in their measures, 
and proceeding to open hostilities for enforcing them, have 
compelled us to aim in our own defence, and have engaged 
us in a controversy so peculiarly abhorrent to the affections 
of your still faithful Colonists, that when we consider whom 
we must oppose in this contest, and if it continues, what may 
he the consequences, our own particular misfortunes are ac- 
counted by us only as parts of our distress. 

Knowing to what violent resentments, and incurable ani- 
mosities, civil discords are apt to exasperate and inflame the 
contending parties, we think ourselves required, by indispen- 
sible obligations to Almighty God, to your majesty, to our 
fellow subjects, and to ourselves, immediately to use all the 
means in our power, not incompatible with our safety, for 
stopping the further effusion of blood, and for averting the 
impending calamities that threaten the British empire. 

Thus called upon to address your majesty on affairs of such 
moment to America, and probably to all your dominions, we 
are earnestly desirous of performing this office, with the ut- 
most deference for your majesty ; and we therefore pray, that 
your majesty's royal magnanimity and benevolence may 
make the most favourable constructions of our expressions ou 



APPENDIX. 479 

So uncommon an occasion. Could we represent in their full 
force, the sentiments that agitate the minds of us, your duti- 
ful subjects, we are persuaded your majesty would ascribe 
any seeming deviation from reverence in our language, and 
even in our conduct, not to any reprehensible intention, but 
to the impossibility of reconciling the usual appearances of 
respect, with a just attention to our own preservation against 
those artful and cruel enemies, who abuseyour royal confidence 
and authority, for the purpose of effecting our destruction. 

Attached to your majesty's person, family, and govern- 
ment, with all devotion that principle and affection can in- 
spire, connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that 
can unite societies, and deploring every event that tends in 
any degree to weaken them, we solemnly assure your majes- 
ty, that we not only most ardently desire the former harmony 
between her and these Colonies may be restored, but that a 
concord may be established between them upon so firm a basis 
as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future 
dissentions, to succeeding generations in both countries, and. 
to transmit your majesty's name to posterity, adorned with 
that signal and lasting glory, that has attended the memory 
of those illustrious personages, whose virtues and abilities 
have extricated states from dangerous convulsions, and, by 
securing happiness to others, have erected the most noble and 
durable monuments to their own fame. 

We beg leave further to assure your majesty, that, notwith- 
standing the sufferings of your loyal Colonists, during the 
course of this present controversy, our breasts retain too ten- 
der a regard for the kingdom from which we derive our origin, 
to request such a reconciliation as might, in any manner, be in- 
consistent with her dignity or her welfare. These, related as 
we are to her, honor and duty as well as inclination, induce us 
to support and advance ; and the apprehensions that now op- 
press our hearts with unspeakable grief, being once removed, 
your majesty will find yourfaithful subjects, on this continent, 
ready and willing at all times, as they have ever been, with 
their lives and fortunes, to assert and maintain the rights and 
interests of your majesty and of our mother country. 

We therefore beseech your majesty, that your royal author- 
ity and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us 
relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by 
the system before mentioned, and to settle peace through eve- 
ry part of your dominions, with all humility submitting to 
your majecty's wise consideration, whether it may not be ex- 
pedient for facilitating those important purposes, that your 
majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united 
applications of your faithful colonists to the throne, in pursu- 
ance of their common councils, may be improved into a hap* 



480 APPENDIX. 

py and permanent reconciliation ; and that, in the mean time, 
measures may he taken for preventing the further destruction 
of the lives of your majesty's subjects ; and that such statute? 
as more immediately distress any of your majesty's colonies, 
may be repealed. 

For, by such arrangements as your majesty's wisdom can 
form for collecting the united sense of your American people, 
we are convinced your majesty would receive such satisfacto- 
ry proofs of the disposition of the colonists towards their 
sovereign and parent state, that the wished for opportunity 
would soon be restored to them, of evincing the sincerity of 
their professions, by every testimony of devotion becoming 
the most dutiful subjects and the most affectionate colonists. 

That your majesty may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, 
and that your descendants may govern your dominions with 
honour to themselves, and happiness to their subjects, is our 
sincere prayer. 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OE THE THIRTEEN UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessa- 
ry for one people to dissolve the political bands which have 
connected them with another, and to assume among the pow- 
ers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the 
laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent re- 
spect to the opinions of mankind, requires that they should 
declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : That all men are 
created equal : that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights : that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness : that, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed : that whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to insti- 
tute new government, laying its foundation on such princi- 
ples, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Pru- 
dence, indeed, will dictate, that governments, long establish- 
ed, should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and 
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are 
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usprpa- 



APPENDIX. 481 

tione, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it 
is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide 
new guards for their future security. Such has been the pa- 
tient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the neces*- 
sity which constrains them to alter their former systems of 
government. The history of the present king of Great Bri- 
tain, is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all hav- 
ing in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny 
over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to 
a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation, 
till his assent should be obtained ; and when so suspended, he 
has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to 
pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of 
people, unless those people would relinquish the right of re- 
presentation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, 
and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He lias dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for op- 
posing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of 
the people. 

He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large, for their exercise ; the state remaining, in the mean 
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, 
and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza- 
tion of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their 
migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropri- 
ations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refu- 
sing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and setit hither 
swarms of officers, to harrass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

61 



482 APPENDIX. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies,, 
without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent, of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He lias combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our 
laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering largebodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment for 
any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 
these states : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neigh- 
bouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary govern- 
ment, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once 
an example and fit instrument for introducing the same abso- 
lute rule in these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valua- 
ble laws, ami altering, fundamentally, the forms of our go- 
vernments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them- 
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases 
whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of 
his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mer- 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and ty- 
ranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and per 
fidy, scarcely parallelled in the most barbarous ages, and to 
tally uuworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on 
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall them- 
selves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most bumble terms: our repeated petitions 
have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose 



APPENDIX. 48S 

character is thus marked by every act which may define a 
tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of at- 
tempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable juris- 
diction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstan- 
ces of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed 
to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured 
them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these 
usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions 
and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of 
justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce 
in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold 
them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in 
peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our inten- 
tions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people 
of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these 
United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and in- 
dependent states ; that they are absolved from all alle- 
giance to the British crown, and that all political connexion 
between them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent 
states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, con- 
tract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts 
and things which independent states may of right do. And 
for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to 
each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of congress, en- 
grossed, and signed by the following members : 

JOHN HANCOCK. 
New Hampshire. Samuel Huntingdon, 

Josiah Bartlett, William Williams, 

William Whipple, Oliver Wolcott. 

Matthew Thornton. New Fork. 

Massachusetts Bay. William Floyd, 

Samuel Adams, Philip Livingston, 

John Adams, Francis Lewis, 

Robert Treat Paine, Lewis Morris. 

Elbridge Gerry. New Jersey. 

Rhode Island, <$*c. Richard Stockton, 

Stephen Hopkins, John Witherspoon, 

William Ellery. Francis Hopkinson, 

Connecticut. John Hart, 

Roger Sherman, Abraham Clark. 



484 



APPENDIX. 



Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Delaware. 
Cesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean, 

Maryland. 
Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll, of 
Carrollton. 



Virginia. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolinp,. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledgc, 
Thomas Heyward, Jr. 
Thomas Lynch, Jr. 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 
Button Gwinnett. 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



IN CONGRESS, May 8, 1778. 
AN ADDRESS 



OF THE CONGRESS, TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

Friends and Countrymen, 

Three years have now passed away, since the commence- 
ment of the present war. A war without parallel in the an- 
nals of mankind. It hath displayed a spectacle, the most 
solemn that can possibly he exhibited. On one side, we be- 
hold fraud and violence labouring in the service of despotism ; 
on the other, virtue and fortitude supporting and establishing 
the rights of human nature. 

You cannot but remember how reluctantly we were drag- 
ged into this arduous contest ; and how repeatedly, with the 
earnestness of humble intreaty, we supplicated a redress of 
our grievances from him who ought to have been the father of 
his people. In vain did we implore his protection : in vain 
appeal to the justice, the generosity, of Englishmen ; of men, 
who had been the guardians, the assertors, and vindicators of 
liberty through a succession of ages : Men, who, with their 
swords, had established the firm barrier of freedom, and ce- 



APPENDIX. 485 

merited it with the Mood of heroes. Every effort was vain: 
for, even whilst we were prostrated at the foot of the throne, 
that fatal blow was struck, which hath separated us forever. 
Thus spurned, contemned and insulted ; thus driven hy our 
enemies into measures, which our souls abhorred, we made 
a solemn appeal to the tribunal of unerring wisdom and jus- 
tice. To that Almighty Ruler of Princes, whose kingdom is 
over all. 

We were then quite defenceless. Without arms, without 
ammunition, without clothing, without ships, without money, 
without officers skilled in war ; with no other reliance but the 
bravery of our people and the justice of our cause. We had 
to contend with a nation great in arts and in arms, whose 
fleets covered the ocean, whose banners had waved in triumph 
through every quarter of the globe. However unequal this 
contest, our weakness was still farther increased by the ene- 
mies which America had nourished in her bosom. Thus ex- 
posed, on the one hand, to external force and internal divi- 
sions ; on the other to be compelled to drink of the bitter cup 
of slavery, and to go sorrowing all our lives long; in this 
sad alternative, we chose the former. To this alternative 
we were reduced by men, who, had they been animated by 
one spark of generosity, would have disdained to take such 
mean advantage of our situation ; or, had they paid the least 
regard to the rules of justice, would have considered with 
abhorrence a proposition to injure those who had faithfully 
fought their battles, and industriously contributed to rear the 
edifice of their glory. 

But, however great the injustice of our foes in commencing 
this war, it is by no means equal to that cruelty with which 
they have conducted it. The course of their armies is marked 
by rapine and devastation. Thousands, without distinction 
of age or sex, have been driven from their peaceful abodes, 
to encounter the rigours of inclement seasons ; and the face of 
heaven hath been insulted by the wanton conflagration of de- 
fenceless towns. Their victories have been followed by the 
cool murder of men, no longer able to resist ; and those who 
escaped from the first act of carnage have been exposed, by 
cold, hunger and nakedness, to wear out a miserable exis- 
tence in the tedious hours of confinement, or to become the 
destroyers of their countrymen, of their friends, perhaps, 
dreadful idea! of their parents or children. Nor was this the 
outrageous barbarity of an individual, but a system of deliber- 
ate malice, stamped with the concurrence of the British legis- 
lature, and sanctioned with all the formalities of law. Nay, 
determined to dissolve the closest bonds of society, they have 
stimulated servants to slay their masters in the peaceful hour 
©f domestic security. And, as if all this were insufficient to 



48-ti APPENDIX. 

slake their thirst of blond, the blood of brothers, of unoffend- 
ing brothers, they have excited the Indians against us; and 
a general, who calls himself a christian, a follower of the 
merciful Jesus, hath dared to proclaim to all the world, his 
intention of letting loose against us whole hosts of savages, 
whose rule of warfare is promiscuous carnage ; who rejoice 
to murder the infant smiling in its mother's arms ; to inflict 
on their prisoners the most excruciating torments, and ex- 
hibit scenes of horror from which nature recoils. 

Were it possible, they would have added to this terrible 
system: for they have offered the inhabitants of these states 
to be exported by their merchants to the sickly, baneful climes 
of India, there to perish : an offer not accepted of, merely 
from the impracticability of carrying it into execution. 

Notwithstanding these great provocations, we have treated 
such of them as fell into our hands, with tenderness, and stu- 
diously endeavoured to alleviate the afflictions of their captiv- 
ity. This conduct we have pursued so far, as to he by them 
stigmatized with cowardice, and by our friends with folly. 
But our dependant e was not upon man. It was upon Him, 
who hath commanded us to love our enemies and to render 
good for evil. And what can be more wonderful than the 
manner of our deliverance ? How often have we been redu- 
ced to distress, and yet been raised up ? "When the means to 
prosecute the war have been wanting to us, have not our foes 
themselves been rendered instrumental in providing them ? 
This hath been done in such a variety of instances, so peculi- 
arly marked almost by the direct interposition of Providence, 
that not to feel and acknowledge his protection, would be the 
height of impious ingratitude. 

At length that God of battles, in whom was our trust, hath 
conducted us through the paths of danger and distress, to 
the thresholds of security. It hath now become morally cer- 
tain, that, if we have courage to persevere, we shall establish 
our liberties and independence. The haughty prince who 
spurned us from his feet with contumely and disdain ; and 
the parliament which proscribed us, now descend to offer 
terms of accommodation. Whilst in the full career of victo- 
ry, they pulled off the mask, and avowed their intended des- 
potism. But having lavished in vain the blood and treasure 
of their subjects, in pursuit of this execrable purpose, they 
now endeavour to ensnare us with the insidious offers of peace. 
They would seduce you into a dependance which, necessarily, ; 
inevitably leads to the most humiliating slavery. And do they 
believe that you will accept these fatal terms ? Because you 
have suffered the distresses of war, do they suppose that you 
will basely lick the dust before the feet of your destroyers ? 
Can there be an American so lost to the feelings which adorn 



APPENDIX. 487 

human nature; to the generous pride, the elevation, the 
dignity of freedom ? Is there a man who would not abhor a 
dependance upon those, who have deluged his country in the 
blood of its inhabitants ? we cannot suppose this, neither is it 
possible that they themselves can expect to make many con- 
verts. What then is their intention ? Is it not to lull you with 
the fallacious hopes of peace, until they can assemble new 
armies to prosecute their nefarious designs ? If this is not the 
case, why do they strain every nerve to levy men throughout 
their islands ? Why do they meanly court every little tyrant 
of Europe to sell them his unhappy slaves ? Why do they 
continue to embitter the minds of the savages against you ? 
Surely this is not the way to conciliate the affections of Ameri- 
ca. Be not therefore, deceived. You have still to expect one 
severe conflict. Your foreign alliances, though they secure 
your independence, cannot secure your country from desola- 
tion, your habitations from plunder, your wives from insult 
or violation, nor your children from butchery. Foiled in 
their principal design, you must expect to feel the rage of 
disappointed ambition. Arise then! to your tents! and gird 
you for battle. It is time to turn the headlong current of 
vengeance upon the head of the destroyer. They have filled 
up the measure of their abominations, and like ripe fruit must 
soon drop from the tree. Although much is done, yet much 
remains to do. Expect not peace, whilst any corner of 
America is in possession of your foes. You must drive them 
away from the land of promise, a land flowing indeed with 
milk and honey. Your brethren at the extremities of the 
continent, already implore your friendship and protection. 
It is your duty to grant their recpuest. They hunger and 
thirst after liberty. Be it yours to dispense the heavenly 
gift. And what is there now to prevent it ? 

After the unremitted efforts of our enemies, we are stronger 
than before. Nor can the wicked emissaries, who so assidu- 
ously labour to promote their cause, point out any one rea- 
son to suppose that we shall not receive daily accessions of 
strength. They tell you, it is true, that your money is of no 
value ; and your debts so enormous that they can never be 
paid. But we tell you, that if Britain prosecutes the war 
another campaign, that single campaign will cost her more 
than we have hitherto expended : and yet these men would 
prevail upon you to take up that immense load, and for it to 
sacrifice your dearest rights ; for, surely, there is no man so 
absurd as to suppose that the least shadow of liberty can be 
preserved in a dependant connexion with Great Britain. 
From the nature of the thing it is evident, that the only se- 
curity you could obtain, would be, the justice and moderation 
of a parliament who have sold the rights of their own consti- 



488 APPENDIX. 

tuents. And this slender security is still farther weakened 
by the consideration that it was pledged to rebels, (as they 
unjustly call the good people of these states) with whom they 
think they are not bound to keep faith by any law whatsoever. 
Thus would you be cast bound among men, whose minds, by 
your virtuous resistance, have been sharpened to the keenest 
edge of revenge. Thus would your children and your chil- 
dren's children, be by you forced to a participation of all 
their debts, their wars, their luxuries, and their crimes : and 
this mad, this impious system, they would lead you to adopt, 
because of the derangement of your finances. 

It becomes you deeply to reflect on this subject. Is there a 
country upon earth, which hath such resources for the pay- 
ment of her debts, as America ? Such an extensive territory ; 
so fertile, so blessed in its climate and productions. Surely 
there is none. Neither is there any, to which the wise Euro- 
peans will sooner confide their property. What then are the 
reasons that your money hath depreciated ? Because no taxes 
have been imposed to carry on the war. Because your com- 
merce hath been interrupted by your enemies fleets. Because 
their armies have ravaged and desolated apart of your coun- 
try. Because their agents have villainously counterfeited 
your bills. Because extortioners among you, inflamed with 
the lust of gain, have added to the price of every article of 
life. And because weak men have been artfully led to believe 
that it is of no value. How is this dangerous disease to be 
remedied ? Let those among you, who have leisure and op- 
portunity, collect the monies which individuals in their neigh- 
bourhood are desirous of placing in the public funds. Let 
the several legislatures sink their respective emissions, that 
so, there being but one kind of bills, there may be less dan- 
ger of counterfeits. Refrain a little from purchasing those 
things which are not absolutely necessary, that so those who 
have engrossed commodities may suffer (as they deservedly 
will) the loss of their ill gotten hoards, by reason of the com- 
merce with foreign nations, which the fleets will protect. 
Above all, bring forward your armies into the field. Trust 
not to appearances of peace or safety. Be assured, that un- 
less you persevere, you will be exposed to every species of 
barbarity. But, if you exert the means of defence which God 
and nature have given you, the time will soon arrive, when 
every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there 
shall be none to make him afraid. 

The sweets of a free commerce with every part of the earth 
will soon reimburse you for all the losses you have sustained. 
The full tide of wealth will flow in upon your shores, free 
from the arbitrary impositions of those, whose interest and 
whose declared policy it was to check your growth. YouV 



APPENDIX. 489 

interests will be fostered and nourished by governments, that 
derive their power from your grant, and will be obliged, by 
the influence of cogent necessity, to exert it in your fa- 
vour. 

It is to obtain these things that we call for your strenuous, 
unremitted exertions. Yet do not believe that you have been 
or can be saved merely by your own strength. No ! it is by 
the assistance of Heaven ; and this you must assiduously cul- 
tivate, by acts which Heaven approves. Thus shall the pow- 
er and the happiness of these Sovereign, Free, and Inde- 
pendent States, founded on the virtue of their citizens, in- 
crease, extend and endure, until the Almighty shall blot out 
all the empires of the earth. 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Friends and Fellow Citizens, 

The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer 
the executive government of the United States, being not far 
distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts 
must be employed in designating the person who is to be 
clothed with that important trust ; it appears to me proper, 
especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of 
the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolu- 
tion I have formed, to decline being considered among the 
number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be as- 
sured, that this resolution has not been taken without a strict 
regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation 
which binds a dutiful citizen to his country, and that, in 
withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situa- 
tion might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal 
for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for 
your past kindness ; but am supported by a full conviction, 
that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office 
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uni- 
form sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a 
deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly 
hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my power, 
consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disre- 
gard, to return to that retirement from which I had been re- 
luctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, 

62 



490 APPENDIX* 

previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation 
of an address to declare it to you. But mature reflection on 
the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with 
foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled 
to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as 
internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incom- 
patible with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am per- 
suaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, 
that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not 
disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous 
trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the dis- 
charge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good 
intentions contributed towards the organization and adminis- 
tration of the government, the best exertions of which a very 
fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the 
outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my 
own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has 
strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself : and every 
day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and 
more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it 
will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have 
given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I 
have the consolation to believe, that while choice and pru- 
dence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does 
not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is intended to 
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not per- 
mit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of 
gratitude which I owe to my beloved country, for the many 
honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the stedfast 
confidence with which it has supported me ; and for the op- 
portunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable 
attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in 
usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted 
to our country from these services, let it always be remem- 
bered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our 
annals, that, under circumstances in which the passions, 
agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead ; amidst 
appearances sometimes dubious ; vicissitudes of fortune often 
discouraging ; in situations in which not unfrequently want 
of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the con- 
stancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, 
and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. 
Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me 
to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that 
Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its benefi- 



APPENDIX. 491 

cence ; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpet- 
ual ! that a free constitution, which is the work of your hands 
may he sacredly maintained, that its administration, in every 
department, maybe stamped with wisdom and virtue, that, in 
fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the 
auspices of Heaven, may be made complete, by so careful a 
preservation and so prudent a use of liberty, as will acquire 
to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the af- 
fection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a stran- 
ger to it 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your 
welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the appre- 
hension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an 
occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contempla- 
tion, and to recommend to your frequent review, some senti- 
ments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsid- 
erable observation, and which appear to me all-important to 
the permanency of your felicity as a People. These will be 
offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in 
them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can 
possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor 
can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent re- 
ception of my sentiments on a former, and not dissimilar oc- 
casion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament 
of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to 
fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of Government which constitutes you one people, 
is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pil- 
lar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of 
your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ; 
of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly 
prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that from different causes 
and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many 
artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of 
this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against 
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be 
most constantly and actively (though often covertly and in- 
sidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should 
properly estimate the immense value of your national Union, 
to your collective and individual happiness ; that you should 
cherish a cordial, habitual, and immoveable attachment to it; 
accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Pal- 
ladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching for 
its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing what- 
ever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be 
abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning 
of Avp-rv attempt to alienate any portion o£ou« *.«p~+»t r '^~ 



492 APPENDIX. 

the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link togeth- 
er the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and in- 
terest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, 
that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The 
name of American, which belongs to you in your national 
capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more 
than any appellation derived from local discriminations.' — 
With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, 
manners, habits and political principles. You have, in a com- 
mon cause, fought and triumphed together. The independence 
and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils, and 
joint efforts ; of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address 
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by 
those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here 
every portion of our country finds the most commanding mo- 
tives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the 
whole. 

The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the south, 
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds 
in the productions of the latter, great additional resources of 
maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials 
of manufacturing industry. The south, in the same inter- 
course benefiting by the agency of the north, sees its agri- 
culture grow, and its commerce expand. Turning partly in- 
to its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its par- 
ticular navigation invigorated ; and while it contributes, in 
different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of 
the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of 
a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. 
The east, in a like intercourse with the west, already finds, 
and in the progressive improvement of interior communica- 
tions, by land and water, will more and more find a valuable 
vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or ma- 
nufactures at home. The west derives from the east sup- 
plies requisite to its growth and comfort ; and what is, per- 
haps, of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the 
secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own produc- 
tion, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength 
of the Atlantic side of the union, directed by an indissoluble 
community of interest, as one nation. Any other tenure, by 
which the west can hold this essential advantage, whether 
derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate 
or unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be in- 
trinsically precarious. 

While then every part of our country thus feels an immedi- 
ate and particular interest in union, all the parties combined 



APPENDIX. 493 

cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, 
greater strength, greater resource, proportionally greater se- 
curity from external danger, a less frequent interruption of 
their peace by foreign nations. And, what is of inestimable 
-value, they must derive from union an exemption from those 
broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently af- 
flict neighbouring countries, not tied together by the same 
government ; which their own rivalships alone would be suf- 
ficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attach- 
ments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, 
likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown mi- 
litary establishments, which under any form of g< iverwment 
are inauspicious to liberty ; and which are to be regarded as 
particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is, 
that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your 
liberty, and that love of the one ought to endear to you the 
preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every 
reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of 
the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a 
doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large 
a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere specu- 
lation, in such a case, were criminal. We are authorized to 
hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxili- 
ary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, 
will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth 
a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious 
motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while 
experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, 
there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, 
who, in any quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, 
it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, that any ground 
should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geo- 
graphical discriminations ; northern and southern ; at- 
xantic and western; whence designing men may endea- 
vour to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local 
interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire 
influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent the 
opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield your- 
selves too much against the jealousies and heart burnings 
which spring from these misrepresentations ; they tend to 
render alien to each other those who ought to be bound to- 
gether by fraternal affection. The inhabitant of our western 
country have lately had a useful lesson on this head ; they 
have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the 
unanimous ratification by the Senate of the tn itj itfa Spain, 
and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the 



494 APPENDIX. 

United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the sus- 
picions propagated among them, of a policy in the general 
government, and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their 
interest in regard to the Mississippi. They have been wit- 
nesses to the formation of two treaties: that with Great Bri- 
tain, and that with Spain ; which secure to them every thing 
they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards 
confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to 
rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by 
which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf 
to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them 
from their brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Govern- 
ment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however 
strict, between the parts, can be an adequate substitute ; they 
must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions 
which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible 
of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first 
essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better 
calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for 
the efficacious management of your common concerns. This 
government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and 
una wed, adopted upon full investigation and mature delibera- 
tion, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of 
its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing with- 
in itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim 
to your confidence and your support. Respect for its author- 
ity, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, 
are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liber- 
ty. The basis of our political systems, is the right of the 
people to make and alter their constitutions of government. 
But, the constitution which at any time exists, till changed by 
an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacred- 
ly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the 
right of the people to establish government, presupposes the 
duty of every individual to obey the established govern- 
ment. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combina- 
tions and associations, under whatever plausible character, 
with a real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the 
regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, 
are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal ten- 
dency. They serve to organize faction ; to give it an artifi- 
cial and extraordinary force ; to put in the place of the delega- 
ted will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small, but 
artful and enterprising minority of the community ; and, ac- 
cording to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make 
the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and 



APPENDIX. 495 

incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of con- 
sistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, 
and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above descrip- 
tion may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, 
in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by 
which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men, will be en- 
abled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for 
themselves the reins of government ; destroying afterwards 
the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your government, and the per- 
manency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only 
that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its 
acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the 
spirit of innovation upon its principles however specious 
the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect in the 
forms of the constitution, alterations which will impair the 
energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be 
directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may 
be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as ne- 
cessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other 
human institutions, that experience is the surest standard by 
which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of 
a country ; that facility in change upon the credit of mere 
hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change from the 
endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, es- 
pecially that for the efficient management of your common 
interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of 
as much vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of 
liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a go- 
vernment, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its 
surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where 
the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises ol- 
faction, to confine each member of the society within the li- 
mits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure 
and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in 
the state, with particular reference to the founding of them 
on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more 
comprehensive view, and w r arn you in the most solemn man- 
ner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, 
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. 
It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or 
less stifled, controlled, or repressed. But in those of the po- 
pular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness ; and is truly 
their worst enemy. 

The alternate dominion of one faction over another, shar- 



496 APPENDIX. 

pened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, 
which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the 
most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this 
leads at length to a formal and permanent despotism. The 
disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the 
minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute 
power of an individual : and, sooner or later, the chief of 
some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than 
his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his 
own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, 
(which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight,) 
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are 
suiiicJei:t to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to 
discourage and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfee- 
ble the public administration. It agitates the community 
with ill founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the ani- 
mosity of one part against another; foments occasionally 
riot and insurrection ; and opens the door to foreign influence 
and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the govern- 
ment itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the 
policy and will of one country are subjected to the policy and 
will of another. 

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful 
checks upon the administration of the government, and serve 
to keep alive the spirit of liherty. This, within certain limits, 
is probably true : and in governments of a monarchial cast, 
patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favour, 
upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular char- 
acter, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be 
encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there 
will always be enough of this spirit for every salutary pur- 
pose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort 
ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assu- 
age it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigil- 
ance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead oC 
warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a 
free country, should inspire caution in those intrusted with 
its administration, to confine themselves within their respec- 
tive constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the 
powers of one department to encroach upon another. The 
spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all 
the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the 
form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of 
that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predom- 
inates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the 



APPENDIX. 497 

truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks, in 
the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing 
it into different depositories, and constituting each the guar- 
dian of public weal against invasions by the others, has been 
evinced by experiments ancient and modern ; some of them 
in our country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them 
must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of 
the people, the distribution or modification of the constitu- 
tional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected 
by an amendment in the way which the constitution desig- 
nates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for though 
this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the 
customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. 
The precedent must always greatly overbalance, in perma- 
nent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can 
at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political 
prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable Supports. 
In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who 
should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happi- 
ness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. 
The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to 
respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all 
their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it be 
simply asked, where is the security for property, for reputa- 
tion, for life, if the sense of religious obligations desert the 
oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts 
of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, 
that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever 
may be conceded to the influence of refined education on 
minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both for- 
bid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclu- 
sion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that vir- 
tue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. 
The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every spe- 
cies of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it 
can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the founda- 
tion of the fabric ? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, insti- 
tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion 
as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, 
it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, cher- 
ish public credit. One method of preserving it, is to use it 
as sparingly as possible ; avoiding occasions of expense by 
cultivating peace ; but remembering also that timely disburse- 
ments to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater 

63 



498 APPENDIX. 

disbursements to repel it ; avoiding likewise the accumula- 
tion of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but 
by vigorous exertions, in time of peace, to discharge the debts 
which unavoidable wars may have occasioned ; not ungener- 
ously throwing upon posterity tbe burden which we ourselves 
ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to 
your representatives : but it is necessary that public opinion 
should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of 
their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in 
mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be leve- 
nue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes 
can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and 
unpleasant, that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable 
from the selection of the proper object (which is always a 
choice of difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a can- 
did construction of the conduct of the government in making 
it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtain- 
ing revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time 
dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; culti- 
vate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality en- 
join this conduct : and can it be that good policy does not 
equally enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, 
and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind 
the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always 
guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt 
that in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan 
would richly repay any temporary advantages which might 
be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Provi- 
dence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation 
with its virtue ? The experiment at least, is recommended 
by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is 
it rendered impossible by its vices ! 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential 
than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particu- 
lar nations, and passionate attachment for others, should be 
excluded ; and that in place of them, just and amicable feel- 
ings towards all should be cultivated. The nation, which in- 
dulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual 
fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its ani- 
mosity or to its affections, either of which is sufficient to lead 
it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one na- 
tion against another, disposes each more readily to offer in- 
sult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, 
and to be haughty and. intractable, when accidental or trifling 
occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obsti- 
nate, envenomed and bloody contests. The nation, prompted 



APPENDIX. 499 

by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the gov- 
ernment, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The 
government sometimes participates in the national propensity, 
and adopts through passion, what reason would reject ; at 
other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient 
to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and 
other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace, often, 
sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. 
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for ano- 
ther produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite 
nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common in- 
terest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and 
infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former 
into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, 
without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also 
to concessions to the favorite nation, of privileges denied to 
others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the 
concessions, by unnecessarily parting with what ought to 
have been retained ; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a 
disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal pri- 
vileges are withheld : and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or 
deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favourite na- 
tion) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own 
country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity ; 
gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obliga- 
tions, commendable deference for public opinion, or a lauda- 
ble zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of 
ambition, corruption or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such 
attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlighten- 
ed and independent patriot. How many opportunities do 
they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the 
arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or 
awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or 
weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the for- 
mer to be the satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure 
you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free peo- 
ple ought to be constantly awake ; since history and ex- 
perience prove that foreign influence is one of the most bane- 
ful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be 
useful, must be impartial ; else it becomes the instrument of 
the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against 
it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and exces- 
sive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see 
danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second 
the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may 



500 APPENDIX. 

resist the intrigues of the favourite, are liable to become sus- 
pected and odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the ap- 
plause and confidence of the people, to surrender their in- 
terests. 

The great rule of conduct for us. in regard to foreign na 
lions, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with 
them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we 
have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with 
perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have 
none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged 
in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially 
foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise 
in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary 
vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and 
collisions of her friendships or enmities. Our detached and 
distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different 
course. If we remain one people, under an efficient govern- 
ment, the period is not far off, when we may defy material 
injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such an 
attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time re- 
solve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent 
nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon 
us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when 
we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by jus- 
tice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? 
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by 
interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, 
entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European 
ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or caprice. 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, 
with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we 
are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood as 
capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I 
hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private 
affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, 
therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine 
sense. But in my opinion it is unnecessary, and would be 
unwise to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suituable esta- 
blishments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely 
trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are 
recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even 
our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial 
hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or pre- 



APPENDIX. 501 

ferences ; consulting the natural course of things ; diffusing 
and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, 
but forcing nothing : establishing, with powers so disposed, 
in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of 
our merchants, and to enable the government to support 
them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that pre- 
sent circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but tem- 
porary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, 
as experience and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly 
keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for dis- 
interested favours from another ; that it must pay with a por- 
tion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that 
character; that by such acceptance, it may place itself in the 
condition of having given equivalents for nominal favours, 
and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving 
more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or cal- 
culate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illu- 
sion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to 
discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an 
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they 
will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our 
nation from running the course which has hitherto marked 
the destiny of nations ! but, if I may even flatter myself, that 
they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasion- 
al good ; that they may now and then recur to moderate the 
fury of party spirit; to warn against the mischiefs of foreign 
intrigue ; to guard against the impostures of pretended pat- 
riotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the solici- 
tude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 

How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been 
guided by the principles which have been delineated, the pub- 
lic records, and other evidences of my conduct must witness 
to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own 
conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guid- 
ed by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my pro- 
clamation of the 22nd of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. 
Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your re- 
presentatives in both houses of congress, the spirit of that 
measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any 
attempts to deter, or divert me from it. 

After a deliberate examination, with the aid of the best 
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, 
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, 
and was bound in duty and interest, to take a neutral position. 



502 APPENDIX. 

Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon 
me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance and firm- 
ness. The considerations which respect the right to hold 
this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I 
Avill only observe, that according to my understanding of the 
matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the 
belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred 
without any thing move, from tlse obligation which justice 
and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is 
free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and 
amity towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will 
be best referred to your own reflections and experience. With 
mc a predominant motive has been, to endeavour to gain time 
to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, 
and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength 
and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speak- 
ing, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, 
I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too 
sensible of my defects, not to think it probable that I may have 
committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently 
beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which 
they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my 
country will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and 
that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, 
with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will 
be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the man- 
sions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and ac- 
tuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to 
a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his pro- 
genitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing 
expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, 
without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst 
of my fellow -citizens, the benign influence of good laws under 
a free government ; the ever favorite object of my heart, and 
the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours, 
and dangers. 

G. WASHINGTON. 

United States, Mth September, 1796. 



^®sfffms^r©o 



Preface, 
Introduction, 
Adams, Samuel, 
Allen, Ethan, 
Allen, Ebenezer, 
Allen, Moses, 
Alexander, William, 
Arnold, Benedict, 
Barney, Joshua, 
Barry, John, 
Bartlett, Josiah, 
Beatty, William, 
Biddle, Nicholas, 
Bland, Theodoric, 
Blount, Thomas, 
Boudinot, Elias, 
Bowdoin, James, 
Bradford, William, 
Broad, Hezekiah, 
Brooks, Eleazar, 
Brown, Moses, 
Brown, Robert, 
Bryan, George, 
Burd, Benjamin, 
Butler, Richard, 
Butler, Thomas, 
Butler, Zebulon, 
Cadwalader, Thomas, 
Caswell, Richard, 

Champe, John, 

Christie, James, 

Clarke, George Rogers, 

Clinton, James, 

Clinton, George, 

Clinton, Charles, 

Comstock, Adam, 

Croghan, William, 

Cropper, John, 

Gushing, Thomas, 

Darke, William, 

Davie, Richardson Wm. 

Davidson, William, 

Dickinson, John, 

Dickinson, Philemon, 

Drayton, William Henry, 



tge. 




Page. 


3 


Dyer, Eliphalet, 


127 


5 


Ellsworth, Oliver, 


128 


9 


Floyd, William, ' 


130 


21 


Franklin, Benjamin, 


132 


25 


Forrest, Uriah, 


143 


25 


Gadsden, Christopher, 


144 


26 


Gansevoort, Peter, 


147 


29 


Gates, Horatio, 


153 


38 


Gibson, John, 


163 


48 


Gibson, George, 


166 


50 


Greene, Nathaniel, 


171 


52 


Greene, Christopher, 


185 


55 


Graeff, George, 


191 


62 


Gurney, Francis, 


191 


63 


Gwinn, William, 


196 


63 


Hale, Nathan, 


196 


65 


Hamilton, Alexander, 


199 


67 


Hancock, John, 


205 


70 


Hathaway, Benoni, 


215 


70 


Hawkins, Nathan, 


215 


71 


Hawley, Joseph, 


216 


71 


Hayne, Isaac, 


220 


72 


Heath, William, 


225 


73 


Henry, Patrick, 


227 


74 


Heston, Edward, 


242 


75 


Holden, Levi, 


244 


76 


Hopkinson, Francis, 


244 


83 


Hopkins, Stephen, 


246 


87 


Humphrey, David, 


247 


87 


Huntington, Samuel, 


248 


91 


Huntington, Jedediah, 


252 


92 


Irvine, William, 


252 


95 


Irwin, Jared, 


259 


100 


Jackson, James, 


259 


103 


James, John, 


269 


106 


Jasper, , 


272 


107 


Johnson, Francis, 


274 


108 


Jones, Paul, 


274 


109 


Kalb, Baron de, 


279 


111 


Kennard, Nathaniel, 


282 


111 


Kirkwood, Robert, 


282 


116 


Knowlton, Thomas, 


286 


118 


Knox, Henry, 
Kosciusco, Thaddeus; 


287 


122 


290 


125 


Lacey, John. 


292 



504 



CONTENTS. 



Laurens, Henry, 
Laurens, John, 
Ledyard, William, 
Lee, Richard Henry, 
Lee, Henry, 
Lee, Ezra, 
Lincoln, Benjamin. 
Lippitt, Christopher, 
Livingston, Philip, 
Livingston, William, 
Macclintock, Nathaniel, 
Macpherson, William, 
Manly, John, 
Marion, Francis, 
Mathews, Thomas, 
Mercer, Hugh, 
Meigs, Return Jonathan, 
Mifflin, Thomas, 
Miller, Henry, 
M'Kean, Thomas, 
M'Kinstry, John, 
Montgomery, Richard, 
Morgan, Daniel, 
Morris, Roberi, 
Moultrie, William, 
Muhlenberg, Peter, 
Nelson, Thomas, 
Ogden, Matthias, 
Olney, Jeremiah, 
Otis, James, 
Orr, John, 
Paine, Thomas, 
Paulding, John, 
Peters, Nathan, 



297 
299 
301 
302 
304 
306 
308 
315 
316 
320 
321 
322 
327 
328 

Ooo 

333 
336 
338 
338 
339 
345 
346 
351 
358 
361 
366 
367 
368 
368 
369 
371 
371 
372 
373 



Pettit, Charles, 374 

Pickens, Andrew, 375 

Porter, Andrew, 379 

Preble, Edward, 383 

Prescott, William, 386 

Prioleau, Samuel, 389 

Pulaski, Count, 390 

Putnam, Israel, 392 

Putnam, Rufus, 397 

Ramsey, David, 398 

Randolph, Peyton, 399 

Reed, Joseph, 403 

Revere, Paul, 406 

Rush, Benjamin, 406 

Schaick, Gosen Van, 410 

Schuyler, Philip, 411 
Sergeant, Jona. Dickinson, 412 

Sherman, Roger, 414 

Stark, John, 416 
Steuben, Frederick Wm. 427 

Sullivan, John, 428 

Stevens, Edward, 429 

Thomas, John, 432 

Thomas, Thomas, 432 

Varnum, Joseph B. 433 

Ward, Artemus, 434 

Warren, Joseph, 434 

Washington, George, 437 
Washington, William, 448 

Wayne, Anthony, 451 

Williams, Otho H. 463 

Wooster, David, 464 

Wythe, George, 465 

Yates, Robert, 467 



APPENDIX. 



A Declaration by the representatives of the United colonies 
of North America, setting forth the causes and necessity 
of their taking up arms, 

A Petition of Congress to the king of Great Britain, stating 
the merits of their claims, and soliciting the royal inter- 
position for an accommodation of differences on just prin- 
ciples, 

Declaration of American Independence, 

An Address of the Congress to the inhabitants of the United 
States of America, upon the situation of public affairs, 

President Washington's Farewell Address, to the People of 
the United States, announcing his intention of retiring 
from public service. 



471 



477 
480 

484 



489 



R8Ja30 




